The American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Robert Manzer President of AALE at the annual meeting on June 14, 2022. Manzer has served on the AALE Council of Scholars since 2015 and brings to his role as AALE president an extensive range of teaching, academic, administrative, and business experience that covers the entire higher education landscape. He has worked for non-profit and for-profit institutions, regulatory bodies, professional associations, and education technology companies. Most recently he is the co-founder and Chief Academic Officer of Acadeum a company that facilitates sharing on-line courses, credits, and tuition.
Manzer began his academic career at the University of Dallas (UD) as an Assistant Professor and Coordinator for Undergraduate Affairs in Politics. Later he became the Associate Dean of UD’s Constantin College. He went on to serve at several academic institutions in various capacities including: Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU); Dean of the Getty College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio Northern University; and Vice President of Academic Affairs at St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX. While at NWU, Manzer initiated and developed a Capitol Hill Internship Program in Washington, DC and a 10-college United Methodist College Washington Consortium to support the Program.
Prior to founding Acadeum, Manzer served as the Chief Operating Officer for the Texas Association of Non Profits; the Regional Vice-President for Synergis Education, a third party on-line management company; and the Provost and Chief Academic Officer for American Intercontinental University, a for-profit online and ground campus university.
Manzer received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Political Philosophy/Political Science from the University of Chicago (IL) and his B.S. in Political Science from Carleton College (MN). He is the author of articles in the American Political Science Review and the American Journal of Political Science.