WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) announced today that President and CEO Dennis D. Berkey has been elected by the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts (AICUM) to serve as chair of its Executive Committee of college and university presidents.
“President Berkey is a nationally recognized higher education leader,” said AICUM President Richard Doherty. “With experience as both a faculty member and administrator, he knows the issues faced by colleges very well. He is a dynamic advocate for the contributions independent higher education brings to our state’s innovation economy. We are fortunate to have him lead our Executive Committee.”
Dennis Berkey was appointed the fifteenth president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2004 following more than 30 years of service in a variety of higher education positions. He is an award-winning teacher and the author of several mathematics textbooks. His published research is in applied mathematics.
Berkey serves on numerous boards including UMass Memorial Health Care Inc., the Massachusetts Biomedical Initiative, the Massachusetts Mathematics and Science Initiative, and Leaders for Education. He is a member of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, and has previously served as a trustee of Muskingum College, the Dibner Institute for Science and Technology, and the Huntington Theatre.
“I welcome the honor of chairing AICUM’s Executive Committee,” said President Berkey. “I have spent more than 30 years in independent higher education in Massachusetts, and it is my opinion that the role of the private colleges and universities has never been more vital to the Commonwealth than it is right now. We are the only state in the nation with more students enrolled in private colleges and universities than in the publics. These institutions are driving the innovation and producing the well trained labor force on which our state’s economy is critically dependent, no less than preparing our next generation of civic, corporate, and cultural leaders. I look forward to working with my fellow presidents and the AICUM executive staff on some exciting and important initiatives.”
About AICUM
AICUM, founded in 1967, consists of 56 degree-granting, accredited two-and-four-year independent colleges and universities in Massachusetts. The organization’s objectives are to preserve and strengthen higher education; to help create a climate in which the resources of privately supported higher education may be utilized to the fullest extent by Massachusetts students and citizens; to address state and federal legislative and regulatory issues; to provide information about education and financial aid opportunities; and to bring about greater understanding of the impact and contributions of independent colleges and universities.
