Dennis M. Barden, senior vice president, joined the Witt/Kieffer team in 1998 after 20 years in academic administration. Dennis began his administrative career at his alma mater, St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. He went on to serve on the staffs at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and Northwestern University in Chicago. Dennis subsequently served 11 years at the University of Chicago, first as assistant dean of its law school and then as an assistant vice president.
Dennis has supported searches for CEOs, chief academic officers, deans, and development and administrative leadership in both public and private institutions. He is particularly attuned to the delicate balance between the traditions of shared governance and the demands of a rapidly changing marketplace within higher education and the not-for-profit sector. Dennis has written on the challenges faced by deans in a changing administrative environment and on institutional accountability to donors.
Dennis is a recipient of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education’s (CASE) Steuben Apple Award for his outstanding performance in that organization’s international educational programs. He is affiliated with CASE, the Association of Fund Raising Professionals and the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy. Dennis is also a past chair of the American Council on Education’s Executive Search Roundtable and is a regular contributor to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Education
B.A., English Literature, magna cum laude, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY