Marjorie Hass

As president of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) since 2021, Marjorie Hass champions independent higher education institutions nationwide, drawing on decades of transformative leadership at Rhodes College (TN), Austin College (TX), and Muhlenberg College (PA). During her tenure as president of Rhodes College, she expanded the college’s engagement with the city of Memphis, enhanced inclusive excellence, and led a strategic planning process that positioned the college for success in the next decade. As president of Austin College, she defined a strong vision of pairing academic excellence with a commitment to educational access for talented students regardless of financial background, along with a strategic approach to securing the resources needed to achieve that vision. Earlier, she spent more than 16 years as a member of the philosophy faculty and subsequently as provost at Muhlenberg College. Hass was a member of the CIC Board of Directors from 2012 to 2016. Hass also has been active in the leadership of other prominent higher education associations, serving as a board member of the Association of American Colleges & Universities and as former chair of the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. She is the author of A Leadership Guide for Women in Higher Education. The American Council on Education (ACE) presented her with the 2024 Donna Shavlik Award, which honors an individual whose leadership demonstrates a sustained commitment to advancing women in higher education. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education named Hass to a list highlighting 40 outstanding women in higher education. She is the creator of a widely read monthly newsletter, where she applies philosophical frameworks to contemporary challenges in higher education. A philosopher by training, Hass earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in philosophy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has published widely on the philosophy of language, logic, and feminist philosophy and is an award-winning teacher—experience that informs her commitment to rigorous inquiry, inclusive dialogue, and ethical leadership.