Leadership & Staff

Our Board of Directors

AAU’s 11-member Board of Directors consists of member presidents and chancellors and includes: a Chair, Vice Chair, Past Chair, seven additional Directors, and the AAU President (ex-officio).  

Eight of the Directors serve a term of three years (with a renewal option of one additional term) and two Directors, who have been members for five years or less, serve a term of two years (without an option for renewal). Directors are elected by the member presidents and chancellors.

The Board is the governing body of the association and among other responsibilities, it proposes policy positions for consideration by the membership, adopts policy positions on behalf of the membership as warranted, approves the association’s annual budget, and works with the AAU President and staff to carry out the association’s agenda.

David W. Leebron President, Rice University AAU Chair	Michael V. Drake President,The Ohio State University AAU Vice Chair	Lou Anna K. Simon President, Michigan State University AAU Past Chair
C.L. Max Nikias President, University of Southern California	G.P. "Bud" Peterson President, Georgia Institute of Technology	L. Rafael Reif President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Barbara R. Snyder President, Case Western Reserve University	Teresa A. Sullivan President, University of Virginia	Satish K. Tripathi President, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
Nicholas S. Zeppos Chancellor, Vanderbilt University

Our Staff

AAU’s team comprises talented and dedicated professionals, who have past experience working for universities, government, business, and nonprofits. 

The staff directory below is organized by department.

Executive Office

Mary Sue Coleman
President
Responsible for the overall activities of the association, and works with the AAU Board of Directors and the member presidents and chancellors to define and implement the association's mission and agenda.
 

Kenneth M. Coleman
Director of Partners Programs
Responsible for the overall activities of the association, and works with the AAU Board of Directors and the member presidents and chancellors to define and implement the association's mission and agenda.
 

Leah Norton
Senior Executive Assistant to the President
Supports the president, staffs the Board of Directors, serves as the administrative team lead, and assists in planning the biannual AAU membership meetings. She also assists in planning the Chief Academic Officers annual meeting.
 

Federal Relations

M. Matthew Owens
Vice President for Federal Relations and Administration
Oversees AAU’s federal relations activities and its office operations and finance, and has primary responsibility for overall federal budget and appropriations advocacy. He staffs the AAU Board of Directors, the AAU Membership Committee, and Council on Federal Relations constituent group.
 

Mollie Benz Flounlacker
Associate Vice President for Federal Relations
Responsible for funding and policy issues related to higher education, including: accreditation, student aid, college affordability, and undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral and international education. She also staffs the Chief Academic Officers constituent group.
 

Amy Scott
Associate Vice President for Federal Relations
Responsible for funding and policy issues related to the National Science Foundation and NASA. She shares responsibility for monitoring export control issues and staffs the AAU Internationalization Issues Forum.

Lizbet Boroughs
Associate Vice President for Federal Relations
Responsible for funding and policy issues related to the National Institutes of Health as well as immigration and visa policy. She shares responsibility for issues related to research costs and scientific openness and security.
 

Julia Smith
Senior Federal Relations Officer
Responsible for funding and policy issues related to the humanities, Department of Defense research, Department of Energy Research, and USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. She is also responsible for funding issues for Department of Education's international education programs.

Luis De Leon
Federal Relations Assistant
Supports the federal relations department and various federal - related AAU working groups, meetings, and activities.
 

Policy

Tobin Smith
Vice President for Policy
Oversees AAU’s policy activities including the AAU Undergraduate STEM education initiative. He is responsible for matters relating to science policy and shares responsibility for matters concerning export controls, scientific openness and security, technology transfer, regulatory reform, and research costs. He also staffs the Senior Research Officers constituent group.
 

Jessica Sebeok
Associate Vice President and Counsel for Policy
Responsible for issues related to intellectual property, information technology, and higher education tax policy. She shares responsibilities for other regulatory, compliance and legal issues and staffs the AAU General Counsels Group.
 

Emily Miller
Associate Vice President for Policy
Responsible for collaborating with member campuses on institutional policy efforts related to undergraduate and graduate education. She directs the AAU Undergraduate STEM Education Initiative and other grant-funded projects. She also staffs the Association of Graduate Schools constituent group and serves as liaison to the AAU Arts & Science Deans.
 

Kimberlee Eberle-Sudré
Senior Policy Analyst
Leads AAU’s data and analysis efforts across a wide range of research and higher education policy issues. She also staffs the AAU Membership Committee, and the AAU Data Exchange (AAUDE).
 

Tara King
Higher Education Project Coordinator
Supports the policy department’s advancement of strategic and grant-funded initiatives. She provides direct support to the AAU's Undergraduate STEM Education Initiative and other post-secondary institutional projects.
 

Hannah Poulson
Policy Associate
Provides research and analytical support to the policy team and AAU members. She helps collect and analyze data and provides support to various policy related projects, working groups and meetings. She also helps monitor and track regulations, policies and legislation.
 

Meredith Asbury
Federal Relations Associate
Provides policy, legislative, and analytical support to the federal relations and policy teams. She monitors and researches legislation, regulations, and policies, covers hearings, and represents AAU at meetings.  She staffs the Association of Graduate Schools.
 

Darren Gaddis
Executive Assistant
Supports the vice president for policy as well as related AAU working groups, meetings, and activities. He assists in the planning of the Senior Research Officers (SRO) annual meeting.
 

Public Affairs

Pedro Ribeiro
Vice President for Communications
Serves as the Vice President for Communications, and oversees and coordinates AAU’s public affairs, communications, and media relations activities.
 

Fred Schecker
Website and Digital Content Director
Responsible for strategic development and oversight of AAU’s digital media content, architecture and content of the association’s website, as well as contributing to overall public affairs activities.
 

Melissa Luke
Communications Officer
Manages the drafting and review of AAU’s communications with its core constituencies and the broader public. Ensures the quality, timeliness, and consistency of AAU’s external products.
 

Daniel Kleine
Digital and Social Media Associate
Manages AAU’s social media portfolio, assists with the AAU website, constituent communications, analytics, and marketing.
 

Jillian Gates
Executive Assistant
Supports the federal relations and public affairs vice presidents as well as related AAU working groups, meetings, and activities. She assists in the planning of the Public Affairs Network (PAN) annual meeting.
 

Office Operations

Roxanne Murray
Chief Operating Officer
Responsible for office operations, human resources, and personnel. She also oversees AAU’s IT, finance, and meetings departments and staffs the AAU Membership Committee.
 

Tom Bozzo
Chief Information Officer
Responsible for AAU's technology strategy, operations, and security.
 

Caroline Qureshi
Data Systems Analyst
Responsible for planning, implementation, and support related to AAU’s database initiatives. She assists with support, training and documentation for all AAU technology systems, software, and hardware.
 

Eileen Fox
Director of Finance and Benefits
Responsible for building strong financial processes and reporting systems to support the entire organization.

Leslie Alexander
Finance and HR Associate
Performs day-to-day functions for AAU's office operations, including finance, benefits, and human resources.

Raquel McKeveny
Director of Meetings
Responsible for all logistical planning and on-site management of the biannual AAU membership meeting and the Council on Federal Relations annual meeting. She directs all logistical aspects of other constituent group meetings, the CFR monthly meetings, and various other in-town meetings and events. She also coordinates the AAU Partners constituent group program and meetings.
 

Nelerene Barnes
Office and Meetings Assistant
provides general office support. She assists the meeting manager with the logistical planning of AAU constituent meetings and coordination of AAU’s conference rooms.