John Dale Russell, the founder of the association of State Higher Education Executive Officers, was not the first educator engaged in state planning for higher education, but he was quite influential in the middle years of the 20th century. He promoted the recommendations of the Truman Commission, he founded SHEEO in 1954, and he helped shape higher education plans and strategies in more than a dozen states. 

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Four generations of state policy leaders in the United States have succeeded John Dale Russell. As part of the third generation I have participated directly in state planning in four states and observed the complex processes of state policy throughout the country. After retiring from SHEEO I also served on an OECD team which studied higher education policy development in Kazakhstan. 

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Core publications: 

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1. Public  Policy for Higher Education in the United States - A Brief History of State Leadership, (Written in collaboration with Jim Mingle, SHEEO's first Executive Director.)

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2. “The State and Higher Education:  An Essential Partnership.” In Restructuring Shared Governance in Higher Education, edited by William G. Tierney and Vincent M. Lechuga.

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3. “The Origins and Evolving Roles of State Higher Education Executives in American Higher Education” (2018) in D. Tandberg, B. Sponsler, R. Hanna, and J. Guilbeau (Eds.) State Policy Leadership for Higher Education: The Critical Role of the State Higher Education Executive Officer. New York: Teachers College Press 

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4. “Testimony to the Ohio General Assembly on the Board of Regents, March 2007”

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5. “Excellence at Scale:  What is required of public leadership and governance in higher education?” Co-authored by Richard Novak and Richard Legon

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6. Higher Education in Kazakhstan, 2017 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Principal author, Chapter 6, “Financing higher education in Kazakhstan,” and Chapter 7. “The Governance of higher education in Kazakhstan.” 

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