Meet our team of professionals
Gregory O'Brien
Dr. O’Brien is President, The Higher Education Group, Inc., a consulting group focused on strategic planning, organizational strategy, accreditation, quality assurance, acquisitions and joint ventures in higher education .
Dr. O’Brien is Distinguished President Emeritus of the 19 campus Argosy University System and of the Argosy Education Group. Before joining Argosy University, Dr. O’Brien served as Chancellor of the University of New Orleans for sixteen years, where he also taught psychology and public affairs. Previous positions include Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of South Florida, Provost of the University of Michigan - Flint and Dean of the School of Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. Dr. O’Brien was also the Director of the Human Services Design Laboratory at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, as well as an Associate in Psychiatry at the Laboratory of Community Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He received a Ph.D. and Master’s degree in Social Psychology from Boston University. He earned his B.A., with honors, from Lehigh University.
Dr. O’Brien has published and presented extensively in areas of: higher education administration, for-profit higher education, educational policy, economic development, organizational social psychology, inter-organizational relations, mental health and human services, international business and management, and information and research utilization.
Dr. O’Brien has served as Vice Chair of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, and formerly served as Chair of the Board, National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, Chair of the NCAA Presidents Commission and President of The American College of Mental Health Administration. Dr. O’Brien served as Interim Superintendent of New Orleans Public Schools in 1999. Dr. O’Brien has been awarded honorary degrees from Lehigh University and Western State University College of Law. He was awarded the US Navy’s Meritorious Service Award.
Karen McClendonKaren McClendon's career encompasses the positions of faculty member, Accreditation Liaison Officer, Assessment Specialist, Curriculum Specialist, Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment, and consultant. She has more than fifteen years of experience working with many two- and four-year colleges in the areas of assessment of student learning, program review, and WASC accreditation. Karen has promoted outcomes-based grading and best practices in the assessment of student learning across all five levels of assessment. Karen has helped many colleges, programs, and departments conduct effective program reviews that improve student learning, create effective assessments and assessment processes, and improve assessment practices. Karen has provided many training sessions and workshops for faculty groups, administrators, and IE/IR professionals on the assessment of student learning, how to create and effectively use evaluation rubrics, how to write meaningful and measurable Student Learning Outcomes, how to effectively measure Program Learning Outcomes and demonstrate direct evidence of student learning, how to conduct program reviews, how to streamline and improve assessment processes, how to document and present assessment results, and how administrators and IE/IR professionals can work with faculty to document Student Learning Outcomes. Karen has been a regular presenter at the Western Association of School and Colleges Academic Resource Conference, the Association for Institutional Researchers Forum, and the California Association for Institutional Researchers Conference. Karen possesses an M.A. in English (Composition Pedagogy) and an M.S. in the Marriage Family Therapy specialization of Counseling Psychology. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in Marriage Family Therapy.
Dr. Thomas A. Hannen
Dr. Thomas A. Hannen retired as Vice President of Finance and Administration at Notre Dame de Namur University where he now holds the title of Professor Emeritus. Prior to joining the University in 1991, Dr. Hannen had served as a corporate banker with Bank of America and Bank of the West and previously had worked in the shopping center industry, in real estate, and in retailing. He had also been an Assistant Professor of Humanities at San Jose State University and a Lecturer at St. Mary’s College. At Notre Dame de Namur University, in addition to his position as CFO, Dr. Hannen served as Dean of the School of Business and Management, Chair of the University Planning and Budgeting Committee, and as a tenured faculty member in Business, teaching mainly in the areas of Strategic Planning and Finance. Dr. Hannen earned his Ph.D., MBA, and BA degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and an MA from Oxford University in England.
Since retiring he has served as Interim VP of Finance and Treasurer at Mills College, as Interim Dean of the Business School at Notre Dame de Namur University and as Interim Chair of Business at Holy Names University. In addition he has done consulting mainly in the areas of Finance and Strategy for institutions seeking regional accreditation.
William B. DeLauder
President Emeritus, Delaware State University Dr. DeLauder retired after serving sixteen years as President of Delaware State University in 2003. During his tenure on the Dover campus, Dr. DeLauder centered his efforts on quality academic programs and enhancement of the institution’s growth and development. Before his appointment at Delaware State University, Dr. DeLauder was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Chemistry at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina.
In 2004, he chaired a NASULGC Task Force on International Education that released the report, A Call to Leadership – The Presidential Role in Internationalizing the University. He was Executive Director of the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program (a bi-partisan committee appointed by the leaders of the U.S. Congress and the President) from December 2004 through February 2007. In November 2005, the Commission issued the report, Global Competence & National Needs – One Million Americans Studying Abroad.
He is chair of the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) Committee on Recognition, chair of the Food Systems Leadership Institute of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU), a member of the Executive Committee of the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa.
Dr. DeLauder has served as a member of the Board for International Food and Agriculture Development (BIFAD), the Board of the American Farmland Trust, the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology; the MARC Review Committee and the National Advisory Council of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of NIH; the Board on Agriculture of the National Research Council, the Board of Directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC); the Board of Directors of the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). He was also member and Chair, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges, the USDA/1890 Task Force (served as chair for several years), and numerous other higher education associations.
Dr. DeLauder received the Thurgood Marshall Award for outstanding contributions to the higher education of African Americans. He was awarded the Educational Leadership Award of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund. Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner presented Dr. DeLauder with the Order of the First State Award (the State’s highest award) on November 22, 2002. He holds honorary doctorate degrees from Arcadia University, Kent State University, and the University of Delaware.
Dr. DeLauder earned the BS in chemistry from Morgan State College (now University) and the Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry from Wayne State University. He did post-doctorate research in physical biochemistry at Centre de Biophysique Moleculaire du C.N.R.S. in Orleans-La Source, France.
Meredith Canaan, ACC
In November of 2003, Meredith began participating as a coach through programs at Landmark Education. Through these programs she began to enjoy the difference that she made for others, and learned she has a talent for coaching. With this in mind, she became professionally trained as a Coach by CoachU, the largest and one of the finest and most respected coach training schools in the world. She is a Core Essentials and Advanced Coach Training Program graduate from CoachU. She is also certified by the International Coach Federation (the foremost, internationally recognized professional association for coaches) through which she holds the designation of Associate Certified Coach (ACC). As a coach, Meredith has worked with a variety of clients, focusing on transitions and relationships. Her clients range from CPA’s and Financial Advisors, to Actors and Directors of Photography. In this current economic climate, transitions seem to be the focus of a majority of her clients. As life changes so do the relationships we have with people, and this is where Meredith’s expertise has a significant impact on her clients.
Meredith’s career outside of coaching started in Los Angeles in 1996. She worked in various areas of production; such as Production Coordinating, Wardrobe, and Make-up for projects including Commercials for Northwest Airlines, and music videos for Robert Palmer and Motiv8, and the film BODY COUNT. She has also had a vast experience in the art department of such projects as CASTAWAY, MINORITY REPORT, HAUNTED MANSION and WHAT LIES BENEATH. Meredith was also an integral part of the launching team for the Image Comics ALLEY CAT and BLUE.
More recently, Meredith was the Executive Producer of the feature film Labou. She spearheaded the fundraising of the $1.4M project, which was picked up for distribution through MGM and Fox for DVD and Television release in 2008. Labou has won 8 Awards including the "Best of Fest" at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival.
Meredith has also been a Consulting Producer for many production companies such as; So Be It Media, eGuiders, and Hundred Watt Films. This led to her becoming Vice President of Development at Sum of the Best Productions.
Meredith has also been the CEO of Mobile Magic Studios, Inc, where she produced five made-for-mobile series, which were distributed on all of the major mobile content networks, including Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T
Dr. Steve Altman
Dr. Steve Altman has served as President of three universities, as professor of business management and consultant. He has worked in both the public and private sectors, and brings a wide range of experience in institutional policy, strategy, leadership, accreditation, marketing and financial management. His presidencies included appointments at NewSchool of Architecture and Design, University of Central Florida, and Texas A&M University, Kingsville, where he led significant enrollment and programmatic growth. Previous to these appointments he served as Provost, Associate, Assistant Vice President at Florida International University and chaired the Department of Management.
Dr. Altman’s teaching included courses in business management, strategy, policy and quantitative methods. He has won several awards for outstanding teaching and professional leadership, and has been a neutral arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, and Special Master for a State Public Employees Commission.
Dr. Altman has published and presented extensively in the areas of higher education policy, leadership, healthcare management, education and minority student advancement. He was one of the founders of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), where he served as Vice Chair.
In addition to his university appointments, he has been a leading consultant in the education, healthcare, telecommunications and technology fields. He served as a Principal and CEO in several financial and strategic advisory firms in Southern California.
Dr. Altman holds a DBA and MBA from the University of Southern California, and a BA in Mathematics from UCLA.