Samuel A. Kirkpatrick, Ph.D., is a Senior Associate with Strategic Initiatives, Inc. He is currently serving as Executive Associate Dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. He served with distinction for nearly 15 years as President of Eastern Michigan University (EMU) and the University of Texas at San Antonio. Prior to that, he built 20 years of progressively responsible experience as a faculty member and academic leader, culminating in his service as Professor and Head of the Department of Political Science at Texas A&M University, and then Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of Political Science at Arizona State University. As a seasoned university president and thought leader, especially skillful in dealing with the challenges and opportunities facing metropolitan universities, he is also recognized for shrewdly leveraging technology and reinventing university processes and practices to build new value propositions for university stakeholders. He is highly experienced in performance enhancement, cost reduction, and organizational realignment. He has worked on a number of Strategic Initiatives change management projects in higher education.

During Dr. Kirkpatrick's tenure as EMU, he led the university in developing and implementing a comprehensive strategic plan that included the continuous improvement of the institution through academic program review, innovative accreditation activities, $28 million in information and communications technology improvements, support for human resources and professional development, streamlined administrative practices, comprehensive campus master planning and enhanced facilities, and ongoing strategic planning and assessment.

From 1990-1999, Dr. Kirkpatrick served as president of the University of Texas at San Antonio. During his tenure, the university received the nation's highest management achievement award in higher education from the National Association of College and University Business Officers. Also during his presidency, the university developed more than 30 new academic programs, including its first doctoral degree programs, and five new interdisciplinary research centers; more than doubled its institutional budget; greatly expanded student programs and residential life; nearly doubled its facilities, including a new branch campus; and won national recognition for innovations in information technology and improvements in student recruitment, retention and success. He also developed extensive community collaboratives in public education, service learning, nonprofit management, public policy, volunteerism, economic development, business assistance and the arts. He participated in joint program developments with the UT Health Science Center.

Dr. Kirkpatrick also has held tenured senior faculty appointments at the University of Oklahoma, where he directed the Bureau of Government Research, a public policy research center, and the Scholar Leadership Enrichment Program, a statewide honors program for 21 public and private colleges and universities; at Texas A&M University, where he chaired the Department of Political Science; and at Arizona State University, where he served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

Dr. Kirkpatrick has held leadership positions in higher education associations, including the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; the Commission on the Urban Agenda for the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges; the American Council on Education's Commission on Governmental Relations; and the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities, among others. He has chaired the Commission on the Urban Agenda of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC); served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities; and served on the Women’s Commission of the American Council on Education, the Board of Directors of NASULGC, the Professional Development Committee of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the Board of Directors of American Humanics, the Board of Trustees of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, and the Board of Directors of the Washtenaw Development Council.

Dr. Kirkpatrick received a Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor’s degree from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. He is the author of six books, more than 75 articles, chapters, monographs and professional papers, and more than 100 presidential papers and keynote addresses.