Marjorie Hass
Elected August 2022
Marjorie Hass became president of the Council of Independent Colleges in July 2021, after years of strengthening independent higher education in various leadership roles. From 2017 until her appointment to the CIC presidency, Hass served as president of Rhodes College. During that time, she expanded the college’s engagement with the city of Memphis, enhanced inclusive excellence, and led a comprehensive and inclusive strategic planning process, positioning the college for success in the next decade. Previously, Hass served for eight years as president of Austin College where she defined a strong vision for the college’s future, 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, serving as vice chair for resource development on the Executive Committee from 2014 to 2016. She has been a frequent presenter at CIC’s annual Presidents Institute and most recently served as a faculty member for CIC’s New Presidents Program. 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 (Johns Hopkins University Press, August 2021). 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.