Sherri Hughes joined the American Council on Education (ACE) in June 2016 and currently serves as assistant vice president of community strategy and engagement. In this role, she is responsible for mobilizing the community of higher education leaders to diversify the talent pipeline and promote change that will advance higher education. Hughes was most recently provost and vice president for academic affairs and enrollment management at Marymount University. Prior to her tenure at Marymount, she held a variety of positions at McDaniel College, including professor and chair of psychology, associate dean of academic affairs, and dean of graduate and professional studies. She was an ACE Fellow in 2002–03.

She has written extensively on the impact of personality and nutrition on ultra-marathon performance, with articles in such publications as the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology and the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. Hughes is also a published expert on workplace fairness, higher education leadership, and student success.

Hughes holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Davidson College and a master's and doctorate, both with a specialization in industrial/organizational psychology, from the Georgia Institute of Technology.