This just in…
By Barbara Soderlin
The Board of Regents announced this morning they’ve hired a new executive director to replace the retiring Tad Perry. Here’s the news release:
A veteran educator and higher education leader is the new executive director and chief executive officer of the South Dakota Board of Regents. Jack R. Warner, who has served as commissioner of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education since 2002, will begin work in South Dakota July 8.
“Jack Warner brings extensive experience in a role quite similar to the one he will take on here,” said Regents President Terry Baloun. “Dr. Warner is a seasoned professional who will hit the ground running, given his background working both in and with public institutions. Additionally, he works very effectively within the policy-making environment and that made him a most desirable choice,” Baloun said.
Warner succeeds Robert T. Tad Perry, who retires this summer after 15 years of service to the Board of Regents. Perry is currently the longest serving state higher education executive officer in the country.
As commissioner in Rhode Island, Warner is responsible for governance and policy oversight of the state’s public system of higher education, consisting of the Community College of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College, and the University of Rhode Island, which serve a combined enrollment of 40,000 students. His efforts have been focused on moving the Rhode Island system toward a goal of improving the state’s educational attainment to match that of leading states by 2015.
“I am very pleased that the Board of Regents has selected me for this important leadership position,” Warner said. “The South Dakota system enjoys a fine reputation nationally due to the leadership of the regents and Tad Perry,” he said.
“I look forward to the opportunity of working to build on that reputation to educate more South Dakotans, expand graduate education and research, and link those efforts with the K-12 system and other educational sectors, the workforce development system, and the economic development initiatives in the state,” Warner said.
Prior to his time in Rhode Island, Warner was vice chancellor of the Massachusetts higher education system for five years and associate chancellor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth for two years. He has held senior leadership positions at two Massachusetts community colleges as well.
Warner is active professionally at the state and national levels, currently serving as treasurer of the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) and as a past president of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. He has extensive teaching experience at the Graduate School of Education at Boston College and at two community colleges.
He holds a doctor of education degree in educational administration from Boston College, along with a master of education from Springfield College in student affairs administration in higher education and a B.A. degree in psychology from the University of Vermont.
Warner currently resides in Warwick, R.I., with his wife, Celeste, where he enjoys family activities, cycling, golf, and kayaking. The couple has three children and three grandchildren.