BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – March 21, 2023 — Dean Hoke, of Bloomington, Indiana, has been chosen to serve as the next President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Association of University Administrators (AAUA), currently based in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. His appointment is effective July 1st when the current President & CEO, Dan L. King will retire after nineteen years of service in that position.
A highly successful and internationally recognized higher education administrator, Mr. Hoke first affiliated with the Higher Colleges of Technology in the United Arab Emirates in 2009 as Head of Marketing and Institutional Development; that experience was followed by four years at Khalifa University with the UAE Advanced Network for Research and Education. In 2014 he became Co-Founder in a new educational management consulting firm, Edu Alliance Ltd. based in the UAE; three years later Edu Alliance Group opened its US office in Bloomington serving as the Managing Partner.
Mr. Hoke has extensive experience in the fields of higher education, marketing, communications and e-Learning. He has held a number of senior higher education administrative positions; and co-founded the Connected Learning Network, a provider of online educational services for educational institutions. In the field of broadcasting he served as an executive and CEO of four public broadcasting stations, and executive vice president of a cable network. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the School of Education of Franklin University in Ohio and is a member of the Advisory Board of Higher Education Digest. He recently served as president-elect for the United States Distance Learning Association and chaired the Global Partnership Committee.
Mr. Hoke currently produces and co-hosts the podcast series Higher Ed Without Borders. He holds a B.A. degree from Urbana University and an M.S. degree from the University of Louisville. He also completed the Executive Management Program at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
AAUA Board of Directors chairperson William Hill, assistant dean of the College of Education at Wayne State University, said, “Mr. Hoke is, without a doubt, the best person to step up and take over the executive administration of this organization. His background and his wide range of experiences will be useful. Moreso, his enthusiasm for leading AAUA to new programming ventures which should lead to expanded membership is contagious!”
When interviewed, Mr. Hoke remarked, “It is a great honor to be selected as the AAUA’s next President and CEO. I am grateful to the Board for their unanimous support and to Dan King, who has led the organization for several years.”
He continued, “AAUA sees a high percentage of administrators leaving the higher education profession. They are frustrated over the lack of opportunities for advancement, work challenges, and readily available professional development. The AAUA board of directors and I will work with our membership to build new and innovative professional development programs and services which will address a higher level of training and increase retention of our higher education administrator colleagues.”
Departing chief executive, Dan King remarked, “I had planned to leave my AAUA responsibilities over two years ago but my departure was delayed by the COVID pandemic. The delay turned out to be fortuitous because it was during this time that I developed a closer professional tie with Mr. Hoke and was able to recruit his candidacy for this position. AAUA is ready for new direction, and Mr. Hoke has the perfect combination of personality, vision and enthusiasm to lead it to new heights. I look forward to watching the association improve and grow.”
