Kent Devereaux

Kent Devereaux

President, Goucher College

Kent Devereaux has served as Goucher College’s president since July 2019. Spanning more than three decades, his career has focused on a variety of education roles from an instructor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago to senior vice president of Encyclopedia Britannica and Kaplan Professional respectively.

Before his current role, he was the president of the New Hampshire Institute of Art for nearly five years.

A California native, Devereaux earned a bachelor’s degree in music composition from Cornish College and a master’s degree in art and technology from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

What is the biggest challenge facing higher education?

The increasingly politicized disagreement over the value of higher education. Higher education is the greatest force we have in society for promoting economic mobility – moving those at the bottom, up the economic ladder- and for fostering a democratic society. A third of our students come from low-income families; a quarter are the first in their families ever to attend college. For them, obtaining a top-quality education at an affordable price like we offer at Goucher is simply transformative.

What is the most encouraging new development in higher education?

Partnerships. We’ve seen a new willingness on the part of numerous organizations to entertain partnerships like never before. We have struck a new partnership in engineering with Columbia University, in business, nursing, and public health with Johns Hopkins, a new 4+1 MBA pathway with Loyola University Maryland and now we’re exploring creating a new university-based retirement community, or UBRC, on Goucher’s campus with Edenwald Senior Living.

Lots of very exciting new developments.

What do you do to unwind?

My professional background is in the arts, as is my wife’s; she’s a documentary filmmaker. So, you’ll often see us at art openings and exhibitions, and theater, opera, and music performances in Baltimore, Washington and New York when we have the chance. We love going to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Keystone Korner and the BMA. When I get to experience a great musical performance everything else fades away.

This profile is part of The Daily Record's Higher Education Power List for 2023. Information used in this profile was sourced from the honoree. See the full list at thedailyrecord.com.