Dr. Steve O. Michael is currently serving as the Interim Executive Director of the Association of Chief Academic Officers (ACAO)—a national association for provosts and vice presidents for academic affairs.  Until recently, he was the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Arcadia University, where he served for 5 years. His academic career includes assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor of higher education management, while his administrative experience includes Vice Provost for Diversity and Academic Initiatives, Directorship of the Center for International and Intercultural Education and Interim Associate Deanship of Education at Kent State University. Dr. Michael was an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow in 2000-2001 under the President of Carnegie Mellon University.  He also served part of his fellowship under the Vice-Chancellors of the City University of London and the University of Bath in England.  Steve Michael is a professor of higher education administration with an interest in higher education finance and strategic management issues. 

Dr. Michael’s research interest includes the application of business strategies to institutional management, entrepreneurial higher education and global higher education. He has published widely in most of the leading international and national refereed journals in the field of higher education on topics such as diversity in higher education, cost reduction analysis and financial constraints in higher education, presidency and trusteeship, academic program reviews and discontinuation, and marketing of higher education.  He is an active presenter at international conferences and a consultant on higher education issues.

He served as an expert-presenter on State Funding Formula for the Ohio Postsecondary Funding Commission.  He is the author of the “Cost of Excellence: The Financial Implications of Institutional Rankings” published in the International Journal of Educational Management—recently included in the ASHE Reader’s Series.

Dr. Michael earned his doctorate from the University of Alberta, Canada and he is also a graduate of the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education, a trained accreditation consultant-evaluator by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.  He was one of the principal founders of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) and its first Vice President and Interim President.  In recognition of his works around the Black Sea region, Dr. Michael was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Danubius University, Galati, Romania.  In addition, he is a co-founder of the Association for the Global Advancement of Universities and Colleges (AGAUC) dedicated to internationalization of higher education.  Recently, he is one of the principal founders of the Association of the Chief Academic Officers (ACAO).