ACE announced today that Walter Bumphus, president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), is the recipient of the 2020 Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award.
The award is named in honor of Reginald Wilson, senior scholar emeritus at ACE and founding director of the Council's Office of Minority Concerns, and is presented annually to an individual who has made outstanding contributions and demonstrated sustained commitment to diversity in higher education.
Walter Bumphus, president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges
“We are thrilled to present this award to Walter. For decades he has been committed to increasing student success, especially for those from disadvantaged and minority groups. All of higher education should be inspired by his courageous and unflappable focus on inclusive excellence,” said ACE President Ted Mitchell.
With a distinguished career covering more than 40 years, Bumphus is well known for his leadership and knowledge of community colleges, serving on several White House commissions under President Barack Obama. He currently represents the nation’s community colleges on President Donald Trump’s Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion.
Early in his tenure at AACC in 2011, he formed the 21st Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges, resulting in a report, “Reclaiming the American Dream,” that urged leaders to reimagine community colleges as centers of collaboration focused on the support of better learning outcomes.
Bumphus established the AACC Advancing Diversity Awards, which seek to recognize diversity efforts at the college and community levels. He is also focused on developing more senior-level and CEO candidates of color through programs like the AACC Future Leaders Institute.
Before joining AACC, he was chair of the Educational Administration Department and held the A.M. Aikin Regents Endowed Chair in Junior and Community College Education at the University of Texas at Austin. He holds a PhD from that institution, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Murray State University in Kentucky.