People | News

Educause President and CEO Diana Oblinger to Retire

• By Rhea Kelly
• 04/03/14

After a decade of service to the higher education technology association, Educause President and CEO Diana Oblinger has announced she will retire in March of next year. Oblinger joined Educause in 2004 as a vice president and was named president in 2008.

"Each year since Diana came onboard, Educause has expanded, most notably in the program offerings for members," said Debra Allison, chair of the Educause Board of Directors, in a press release. "Over the past few years there have been several new professional development programs, millions of dollars in grants that support transformative programs, new publications, more and better research and a massive amount of outreach to the higher education community."

Oblinger started Educause's first online events, which reach approximately 20,000 participants per year, according to the organization. She created the Educause Learning Initiative, a group focused on the advancement of learning through the innovative application of technology, as well as the Next Generation Learning Challenges program, which has provided more than $55 million in grants to ed tech initiatives at post-secondary and secondary institutions. She is also the author of Game Changers: Education and Information Technologies (Educause, 2012), a book about how online learning, learning analytics and degree pathways can make higher education more successful for all students.

"One of the wonderful qualities Diana has brought to the job is her appreciation and deep understanding of the diversity of the higher education community," said David Lassner, former chair of the Educause Board of Directors and interim president of the University of Hawaii, in a prepared statement. "She has a remarkable ability to work across all organization types — from research universities to community colleges to corporations. Diana understands our membership; she has been and is one of us. She listens, she is innovative, and she gets the right things done. Her efforts have greatly advanced the mission of Educause and positioned the association to better meet the needs of its members and the entire higher education community."

The Educause Board of Directors will announce a search for a new president later this month.