Dr. Debra Humphreys
New Paltz will welcome Dr. Debra Humphreys, vice president for communications and public affairs at the Association of American Colleges and Universities, as a speaker in the College’s Distinguished Speaker’s Series on Thursday, April 12, 2012.
Humphreys’ lecture is part of New Paltz’s week of festivities and events in honor of the inauguration of the College’s eighth President, Donald P. Christian, on April 13, 2012.
Humphreys will address the importance and versatility of a quality liberal arts education. She will discuss employer research documenting that the outcomes of a liberal education are essential to prepare colleges graduates for success in the 21st century. Now more than ever, a liberal education provides graduates with flexibility, insight and a wide array of skills to become future teachers, artists, entrepreneurs, scientists and citizens of the world, according to Humphreys.
Humphreys has collaborated very closely on the AAC&U’s LEAP (Liberal Education and America’s Promise) campaign in the University of Wisconsin where President Christian was Dean of Arts and Sciences.
From its founding in 1915, AAC&U has focused on advancing and strengthening liberal education for all college students, regardless of their intended careers.
As well as being a torchbearer for liberal arts education, Humphreys’ energy and skills are also devoted to such broader issues as quality education, access and women’s rights and promoting diversity in college education. In addition to lecturing, formulating policy and influencing educators, administrators and policy makers, she publishes in both trade and professional venues.
Her recent publications have included “What’s Wrong with the Completion Agenda—and What We Can Do About It.” forthcoming in Liberal Education (Winter, 2012); “Liberal Education and the Policy Landscape,” co-authored with Carol Geary Schneider in Transforming Undergraduate Education, edited by Donald W. Harward and published by Rowman and Littlefield in 2011; and “College Outcomes for Work, Life, and Citizenship: Can We Really Do It All?” in Liberal Education (Winter, 2009).
Humphreys received her B.A. from Williams College and her PhD. in English language and literature from Rutgers University.