Karen Spear-Bio

Karen Spear is CIEL’s first Executive Director and has served in that capacity since 2004. In that role, she has doubled the consortium’s membership and moved it to a self-sustaining organization, forged a partnership with the American Association of Colleges and Universities, gained greater visibility and participation among students and faculty at member institutions and across institutions, and created a number of enduring events to promote professional development and scholarship.

Karen served as Dean of Arts and Sciences at Fort Lewis College from 1990 to 2000 where she was occupied foremost with curriculum renewal in general education and the writing program. She previously held positions as Campus Associate Dean and then Dean of the St. Petersburg Campus of the University of South Florida from 1988-1990; and Associate Dean of Liberal Education at the University of Utah from 1979-1988. She was president of the Association for General and Liberal Studies in 1988.

She holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in literature and psychology from The American University, awarded in 1976, and has been an active scholar throughout her career in composition studies, interdisciplinary education, collaborative learning and other alternative pedagogies. Her teaching career includes developing and teaching over 30 courses in literature, writing, teacher training, cognitive development, psychology, and interdisciplinary studies. She has consulted extensively with colleges and universities throughout the United States on faculty development and program design in writing and liberal education, and more recently on organizational culture, women’s leadership, and progressive education.

Karen took a leave from higher education to spend several years in the corporate sector, working with a premier executive education firm that serves global-level clients. Her work in areas such as executive development, especially for women, and organizational culture brought a fresh take to her perspective on undergraduate education.

She lives in Durango, Colorado.