Tuesday, May 27, 2008 10:40 am

DR. RICHARD CROFTS TO SERVE AS CPE INTERIM PRESIDENT


(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – The Council on Postsecondary Education hired a former Kentuckian with extensive experience in higher education administration in several states to serve as its interim president. Dr. Richard A. Crofts of Palmetto, Fla., will serve the Council until a permanent president is hired, a search anticipated to last six to eight months.

The Council’s Executive Committee will negotiate the terms of his contract. Crofts will not be a candidate for the permanent president.

Crofts, a 1962 Georgetown College graduate, said he looks forward to returning to Kentucky and that he is honored by the appointment.

“I have great admiration for Kentucky’s system of postsecondary and adult education,” said Crofts. “Kentucky is highly regarded across the nation and I look forward to contributing to this important work.”

Crofts described higher education as his lifelong calling. “I’ve spent my life devoted to public higher education and that’s why I’m here today,” he added.

Council member Jim Skaggs, who chaired the search committee, thanked the university presidents for their insights during the search process.

He added, “We look forward to working with Dr. Crofts. We are confident that he will provide capable and insightful leadership and promote goodwill among the Council, university presidents and other constituencies.”

Crofts holds a doctorate in reformation history from Duke University. He most recently served as interim commissioner of higher education in Mississippi and has held positions as commissioner and deputy commissioner of higher education of the Montana University System, assistant to the chancellor of the Minnesota State University System, a commissioner of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education and a member of the executive committee of the State Higher Education Executive Officers Organization.

Crofts also has served in many capacities on university campuses, serving as vice president of academic affairs at Mankato State University, associate vice president for research and dean of the graduate school at East Tennessee State University and department chair and full professor at the University of Toledo.