Graduates from our program pursue careers in a broad spectrum of areas within higher education. Some of our graduates teach and conduct research in higher education as faculty members. Others serve as academic and student affairs administrators for a wide variety of post-secondary institutions. Several of our graduates also work with institutions and governmental bodies to develop higher education policy to solve some of the complex problems higher education faces today.
The list below highlights some of our Ph.D. and M.A. graduates and their current positions.
If you are an alumnus of the Higher Education program and would like to be placed on our Alumni Listserv, please send your current e-mail address to Steinhardt.highered@nyu.edu.
Doctoral Alumni
Ben Corpus, PhD, Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
Ben M. Corpus has served as Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management and Dean of Students at Baruch College (N.Y.) since 2005. Dr. Corpus, a tenured associate professor at Baruch, was awarded the 2009 Faculty Service Award by the Baruch College Alumni Association; served as a HACU Kellogg Leadership Fellow in 2004 as well as an AASCU MLI Leadership Fellow in 2009. Dr. Corpus has served as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Baruch College Association since 2005, Chair of the Early Learning Center Board, is on the Board of the Baruch Auxiliary Services Corporation and is a Founding Trustee Board Member for a charter school in the South Bronx. He received his bachelor's from Oswego State University, an M.S. from the University at Albany and his Ph.D. from New York University in Higher Education Administration. He has also completed the Certificate Program on Negotiation for Senior Executives at Harvard Law and the IEM at Harvard University.
Kevin Drumm, Ph.D. 1995, President of Northern Wyoming Community College District
Kevin Drumm is currently entering his 6th year as president of the Northern Wyoming Community College District, which serves over 5,000 students annually. The college district has been highlighted in the national higher ed media as one of the nation's fastest growing community colleges. As a result of the growth, the district has engaged in a nearly $100 million capital facilities expansion effort under Dr. Drumm's leadership, raising the funds both publically and privately. Dr. Drumm is also active in the national leadership for community colleges, currently serving as board chair for the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship, chair of the Presidents Advisory Council for the Association of Community College Trustees, and he is an elected member of the American Association of Community Colleges' Presidents Academy Executive Committee. He has been married to Bonnie for 17 years and they have son, Cameron.
Monica Martinez, Ph.D. 2004, President, The New Tech Network
Monica Martinez is President of New Tech Network, the Napa, California-based developer of innovative and powerful high schools across the United States. Dr. Martinez is responsible for the oversight, strategic growth and development of the New Tech Network, which includes 40 high schools in nine states from California to North Carolina. The New Tech Network is a subsidiary of the KnowledgeWorks Foundation where Martinez served as the Vice President for Education Strategy. In this role, Dr. Martinez led the development of new initiatives and coordinated strategic planning geared to the transformation of the national education landscape. These efforts have been in conjunction with the Foundation's Map of Future Forces Affecting Education as well as the development of its new 2020 Forecast. Since the map has been published, Dr. Martinez has made numerous presentations throughout the country. Dr. Martinez founded the Washington, D.C.-based National High School Alliance, a partnership of more than 40 organizations sharing a common commitment to promoting excellence, equity, and development of high school-age youth. She currently serves on the Boards of Grantmakers for Education and AdvanceED, the unified organization of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI), and is a columnist for Phi Delta Kappan. She received her Ph.D. from New York University and her bachelor's degree from Baylor University.
Michael Olin, Ph.D. 1995, Director of Student Life, Princeton University
Michael Olin has served as Director of Student Life for Wilson College at Princeton University since 2007. In his current position, Dr. Olin oversees, supports, and helps evaluate residential college advisers, manages disciplinary matters, plans and implements diversity programs and the residential education program, and addresses crisis-related matters, working closely with University resources to assist students in personal difficulty. He has also helped administer Princeton's Freshmen Scholars Institute, the Alcohol Coalition's Education working group, and a community organizing pilot program that focuses on healthy decision making and civic engagement among undergraduate students. Prior to his position at Princeton, Dr. Olin was Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Students at Seton Hall University's John C. Whitehead School for Diplomacy and International Relations. He has also worked in career development at Seton Hall and Columbia University. During his training at NYU, Dr. Olin served as a graduate assistant in the Steinhardt School's Office of the Associate Dean for Student Services and Public Affairs. He received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a M.S. in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola College in Maryland. He lives in Princeton, NJ with his wife, Dana, and son, Charlie.
Jason A. Presley, Ph.D. 2009, Director of Research & Analysis, Colorado Department of Higher Education
Jason A. Presley currently serves as the Director of Research and Analysis for the Colorado Department of Higher Education. In this capacity he works with a broad range of individuals across the higher education landscape coordinating data collection, generating accountability reports and ad hoc analyses to inform state-wide higher education policy, and responding to Legislative requests pertaining to the sector. Prior to the move west, Jason was the Associate Budget Director in the Office of Management and Budget at Columbia University where he worked on the oversight, development, and presentation of the University's $3B annual operating budget. Originally from Stillwater, OK, Jason received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from Oklahoma State University. In 2009, he received his Ph.D. from Steinhardt's Higher and Postsecondary Higher Education program.
Christine Shakespeare, Ph.D. 2005, Interim Associate Provost for Student Success, Pace University
Christine is interim associate provost for student success at Pace University where she oversees the Office for Student Success, the Centers for Academic Excellence, International Programs and Services, and some initiatives in academic affairs. Previously, Christine was the dean of academic affairs at Sunbridge College, located in Chestnut Ridge, New York. Sunbridge College offers programs leading to Master's Degrees in teacher training and administrator preparation for Waldorf Schools, and also offers a liberal studies master's degree. Previously, Christine was the associate director of community relations at New York University within the office of the Senior Vice President for University Relations and Public Affairs. From 2004 until 2009, Christine was an education consultant at the Ford Foundation. Christine's Ph.D. is in higher education policy from New York University's Steinhardt School of Education (2001-2005). She came to NYU from Texas, where she worked with state agencies, the corporate community, higher education, and nongovernmental organizations to build the capacity and infrastructure of the volunteerism sector. Other past professional experiences have brought her into the realm of governmental relations at the University of Texas System and the Office of Admissions at Hofstra University. She holds a B.A. with Honors and Phi Beta Kappa from Hofstra University's New College and an M.Ed. in Counseling from the University of San Diego. Christine is originally from Hempstead, New York. Her research interests include higher education policy, globalization's effect on higher education, and education reform and affirmative action in developing countries.
Master's Alumni
Jennifer Goodwin, M.A. 2009, Student Advisor, NYU Applied Psychology Department
Jennifer Goodwin graduated from the Master's Program in Higher Education Administration in 2009. While pursuing her Master's degree, Jennifer published "Intellectual and Educational Paradigm Shifts: Catalysts in Changing Student Religiosity" in the Journal of Student Affairs as the culmination of a year-long independent research project conducted in the archives of New York University. Her work focused on shifting religious and spiritual trends among college students as a result of social and philosophical changes in the 20th Century. Jennifer currently works at New York University as a student advisor in the Applied Psychology Department, where she aids graduate students in their academic and personal lives. She has been awarded the Steinhardt Graduate Student Organization's Outstanding Administrator Award for extraordinary service to the NYU Steinhardt community.
Jillian Kerlin, M.A. 2009, Program Administrator, NYU Department of Mathematics
Jillian Kerlin graduated from the Masters program in 2009. While in the program, she worked full-time for the Computer Science Department at NYU and focused her studies on the historical roots of higher education. She joined forces with a visiting scholar to Steinhardt, Professor Jonathan Veitch (President of Occidental College), investigating the value of liberal education and experimental efforts in higher education. Inspired by the research, Jillian, along with two of her peers presented their findings at the 2009 Student Affairs Conference at NYU in a project entitled "Demand for the Democratic Arts." Jillian also participated in fieldwork during her last year of the program, teaching seminars for first-year Stern students and leading an eight-week course for international graduate students in Steinhardt. In addition, she volunteered as an ESL Conversation Hour facilitator with the Office of Student Affairs and completed the Future Administrators Cultural Training Seminar (FACTS). Jillian remains at NYU working as the Undergraduate Program Administrator for the Department of Mathematics, providing services and programming for undergraduates.
Marc Lo, M.A. 2007, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Residential Life Associate and Associate Housemaster
Marc Lo graduated from the Master's program in Higher Education Administration in 2007. While pursuing his degree, Marc worked as a Graduate Assistant in the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Student Services at NYU. An advocate of vigorous professional development, Marc was a Recruitment and Orientation Co-Chair for the Association of Student Affairs Professionals, Production Editor for the Journal of Student Affairs, traveled to and studied the United Kingdom system of HE through Bowling Green State University, participated in several case study competitions, and spent a summer interning in Housing at the University of California at Santa Cruz. A central theme in these experiences and his research was spirituality, and Marc used an independent study during his last semester in the program to create a proposal for a new model of spiritual development. After graduation, Marc headed to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he currently serves as a Residential Life Associate and Associate Housemaster.