ACE is excited to welcome Hironao Okahana as the assistant vice president for ACE Research.
Hironao Okahana
Okahana has spent the last eight years at the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) where he most recently served as vice president for Research and Knowledge Development. There he was responsible for directing CGS' research agenda and led and co-led several grant-funded projects as well as their national survey efforts, including the CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees and the CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey.
He has contributed to CGS' positions and responses on various federal policy issues as well as published several scholarly articles and reports. He is an active member of the American Educational Research Association and the Association for the Study of Higher Education. He brings with him a passion for championing equity, access, and completion.
“I am excited to join ACE and focus on the work that advances more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive higher education," said Okahana. “I hope to do my part in helping colleges and universities meet their full potential as drivers of social change and equity."
“We are thrilled to be welcoming Hiro to our Research team at ACE," said ACE Chief Learning and Innovation Officer Louis Soares. “Not only will he be bringing a solid background in research but he is committed to our mission as an organization to improve equity, expand access to our colleges and universities, and diversify the higher education leadership pipeline."
Okahana has served as an adjunct faculty member at William & Mary and George Mason University teaching graduate level courses for their higher education programs. Originally from Tokyo, Japan, Hiro earned his PhD, MA, and MPP at the University of California, Los Angeles, and his BA and BS at California State University, Long Beach. He resides in Northern Virginia with his wife, Saleha Bholat, who is associate dean of arts at the Loudoun campus of Northern Virginia Community College and their kindergartener son.