Leadership

Henry S. Bienen is the President Emeritus of Northwestern University. He was elected the 15th president in June 1994 and retired in August 2009.

Dr. Bienen is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Rasmussen University, as well as on their Academic Advisory Council, and has served on the Rasmussen FAH Board. He is also Chairman of the Board for the Crown Center on Middle East Studies at Brandeis University. Dr. Bienen serves as a member of the Board of Directors for GCM Grosvenor, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, and Ryan Specialty Group, where he also serves on their Audit Committee.

Formerly, Dr. Bienen was a member of the Board of Directors for the Council on Foreign Relations, and also served on the Chicago Board of Education during Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s first term. He previously served as President of the Poetry Foundation.

Prior to becoming Northwestern’s president, Dr. Bienen was the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Dr. Bienen received a Bachelor’s degree with honors from Cornell University in 1960 and a Master’s degree from the University of Chicago in 1961. He was awarded a PhD from the University of Chicago in 1966. In 2008, the Northwestern University Board of Trustees honored him and his wife, Leigh, a senior lecturer at Northwestern University School of Law, by naming the University's School of Music the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music. The Bienens have three daughters, five grandsons and one granddaughter.

Mr. Pianko is co-founder and managing director at University Ventures (UV). With over a decade of experience in education, Mr. Pianko has built a reputation as a trusted education adviser and innovator in student finance, medical education and postsecondary education. Mr. Pianko began his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs. Since then, he has invested in, founded, advised or managed a number of education-related businesses. He established a student loan fund, served as chief of staff for the public/private investments in the Philadelphia School District and worked as a hedge fund analyst. He serves on a number of boards, including the Boards of Trustees of Harlem Village Academies and of American Public Education, Inc.

Angela Selden was appointed Chief Executive Officer of American Public Education in September 2019. Ms. Selden brings more than 30 years of experience in technology and technology-enabled services, both within private-equity and publicly traded environments, and has deep experience executing business transformation initiatives for Fortune 500 clients. She was previously CEO and board member of DIGARC, a leading education technology provider to higher education institutions. Previous roles include CEO of Workforce Insight, a global, strategic workforce consulting, analytics and services company serving Fortune 100 clients; CEO and Executive Co-Chairman of Arise Virtual Solutions, a virtual workforce solutions outsourcer; and interim CEO of Skybridge Americas, a global contact center and provider of fulfillment solutions. Ms. Selden serves on the University of St. Thomas, Opus College of Business Strategic Board of Governors and was honored as the University’s Entrepreneur of the Year for 2012. Ms. Selden currently serves as Chairman of DinerIQ and as a board member of TalentWave. Earlier in her career, Ms. Selden spent 18 years at Accenture, including serving as the Managing Partner, leading the North American Consumer and Industrial Products group to significant growth.

Ms. Singer has an extensive background in higher education, having served as a chief executive officer, board chair and public company officer for multiple organizations. In January 2022, after 27 years at Laureate Education, Inc., she retired as the CEO of Laureate Online and Walden University. During that time, she also served as chairman of Walden University for 19 years. She is the co-founder and principal owner of Nurturing Nest Montessori School and serves as a board director at the University of Connecticut Foundation.

Ms. Singer graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor of science degree in education. She is proud to have been the first education major selected for the prestigious University Scholar program.

Ms. Thomas Parrott is a retired Senior Vice President of External Relations and Global Responsibility of DeVry Education Group (Adtalem), where she was responsible for corporate and education compliance, internal audit, government and public relations, and higher education accreditation and licensing. She also served as the founding President of the DeVry Charitable Foundation and the DeVry Scholarship Fund. Previously, Ms. Thomas Parrott worked as a Program and Training Officer at the U. S. Department of Education and held faculty and administrative positions at several Illinois colleges and universities. She began her career as a Chicago Public School teacher and has served on numerous boards and commissions for the State of Illinois, One Goal, The College Board and America’s Promise Alliance.

Mr. Yale is one of the senior members of Tusk Ventures/Strategies where he oversees regulatory affairs. Previously, he was the senior vice president of global communications and public affairs at Laureate Education, Inc. Before joining Laureate, Matthew served as deputy chief of staff for U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. In this capacity, he was a senior advisor to the Secretary on policy and strategic planning and was the Department lead on a number of critical inter-agency initiatives, such as the H1N1 flu response. Before joining the Obama Administration, Matthew worked at Ariel Investments where he directed the firm’s civic, governmental and political affairs.