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Lafayette President Arthur J. Rothkopf has been selected as the new chair of the board of directors of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), the sole coordinating organization for accreditation, quality assurance, and quality improvement of higher education in the United States.
He will begin a one-year term as chair July 1, succeeding John T. Casteen III, president of the University of Virginia, in the office.
“I look forward to serving as chair of the CHEA board, especially as we begin to consider recommendations for reauthorization of the Higher Education Act,” says Rothkopf. He has been a member of the board of CHEA since July 1, 2000.
Rothkopf has been president of Lafayette since July 1993. Prior to that served as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). He was appointed by President George H.W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate. Prior to becoming Deputy Secretary, Rothkopf served as the agency's General Counsel. Before joining DOT, Rothkopf was a senior partner in the Washington law firm of Hogan & Hartson from 1967 to 1991.
“We are extremely fortunate to have someone of Arthur's caliber serve as our board chair,” says CHEA president Judith S. Eaton. “His knowledge and expertise are very valuable, in particular his experience in Washington as a former Cabinet officer, and his command of higher education as the CEO of Lafayette will be a tremendous resource to CHEA.”
Rothkopf earned his A.B. degree from Lafayette, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and received his law degree from Harvard. Rothkopf and his wife, Barbara, are extremely active in the Lehigh Valley community.
CHEA is a national, private, nonprofit membership organization of 3,000 degree-granting colleges and universities and 60 institutional and programmatic accreditors.