User:Pyramid43/Constantine W.(illiam) Curris

Constantine W.(illiam) Curris ... Constantine W.(illiam) Curris has a long and distinguished career in Education Administration having served as a dean, vp, president (26 years at three universities), and President of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Curris is a strong advocate for higher education and its students and a proponent of the qualitative strengthening of public higher education institutions in order to meet public needs and expectations in the 21st century. He has also served on a number of boards and other educational organizations. [1] Born in Lexington, Kentucky, on November 13, 1940 and graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1962 with a BA in Political Science. He obtained an MA in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Illinois in 1965 and an EDD in Higher Education from the University of Kentucky in 1967. He received the Alumni Achievement Award from the College of Arts and Science at the University of Illinois. He was a member of the UK College of Education Hall of Fame, the UK Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame, and he was inducted into the UK Hall of Distinguished Alumni on May 19, 2000. Early career: Curris began his work in higher education in 1965 as vice president and dean of the faculty at Midway college in Kentucky. In 1968 he became director of academic programs for the West Virginia Board of Education. From 1969 through 1971 he was dean of student personnel programs at Marshall University in West Virginia, and for the following two years was the vice president and dean of the faculty at the West Virginia Institute of Technology. Mid career: In 1973, Curris was selected president of Murray State University, a position he held until 1983. During this decade, Murray State was transformed from a locally dominated former teachers college that had earned the status of a University in 1966 to a larger regional university with faculty hired through national search committees, a full range of student and faculty services, and the beginnings of a national reputation. After Curris left Murray State, the new student center was named in his honor. Curris was president and professor of public policy at the University of Northern Iowa, 1983-1995. During these years, Curris began his active involvement with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). During his years at UNI, a business building, the Kamerick Art Building and a Center for Energy and Environmental Education were built. Later the Iowa State Board of Regents named the business building the Curris Business Building.

From 1995 to 1999, he served as president and professor of public policy of Clemson University in Clemson, S.C.

Late Career: Curris became widely known as a leader in higher education; he was a featured participant in a 1997 national video teleconference on “The New Public University: How Do We Compete in a Changing Environment?” Curris was named president of AASCU in 1999. This organization represents over 400 state colleges and universities. He has also been an occasional contributor to the The Chronicle of Higher Education, including articles about the public purposes of public colleges, in support of a unit-record system of collecting student data, and about getting college students to the polls.

Boards and commissions Other professional experiences for Curris include appointments to the 1998 Commission on the Future of the South, the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities, the Education Commission of the States, the Iowa Board of Economic Development, the South Carolina Research Authority, The Sigma Chi Foundation, and the chairmanships of American Humanics and the Iowa Task Force on Teacher Education and Certification.

Since his retirement from AASCU in 2008 Curris has been a consultant with Academic Search where he focuses his work on Presidents, Chancellors, and System Heads, and limits his engagements to two or three searches a year in order to give "uncompromising attention" to help campuses and states secure outstanding executive leadership. In 2009 he was appointed to the Murray State University Board of Regents and now serves as chairman of that body.

Curris, who goes by the nickname "Deno," is married to Jo Hern Curris, a tax attorney. They live in Lexington, Kentucky and are parents of two adult children: Robert Alexander and Elena Diane.

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/ref/college/collegespecial2/coll_asscu_currisbio.html 1. http://www.nndb.com/people/600/000179063/ Maybe drop this one 2. http://www.ukalumni.net/s/1052/index-no-right.aspx?sid=1052&gid=1&pgid=677 3. http://www.academic-search.com/our-team/consultants/constantine-curris/ 4. a http://www.murraystate.edu/HeaderMenu/Administration/PresidentsOffice/HistoryoftheOffice.aspx 4 b http://www.murraystate.edu/boardofregents 6. http://chronicle.com/article/President-of-State-Colleges/41695/ 7. http://www.library.uni.edu/collections/special-collections/biographical-sketches/constantine-william-curris http://www.las.illinois.edu/alumni/magazine/articles/2001/curris/

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