Sedgwick Harris Named Aspen Rising Presidents Fellow

The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program (Aspen) announced that Sedgwick Harris, VP of Administrative Affairs at Northampton Community College (NCC), is one of 40 leaders selected for the 2024-25 Aspen Rising Presidents Fellowship. Applying lessons from over a dozen years researching exceptional community colleges, the Aspen Fellowship aims to select and prepare the next generation of presidents who can lead institutions to higher and more equitable levels of student success.    

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and has a campus in Aspen, Colorado. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org. 

This incoming class of Aspen Rising Presidents Fellows is 58% women, and 55% are people of color. The institutions they represent are also diverse, located in 20 states, from small rural colleges to large urban campuses. The fellows, selected through a competitive process, will work closely with highly accomplished community college presidents and thought leaders over ten months to learn from field-leading research, examine demographic and labor market conditions in their communities, assess student outcomes at their colleges, and advance a clear vision for excellent and equitable outcomes for students while in college and after they graduate.   

“We are so pleased that Dr. Harris was selected for the Aspen Rising Presidents Fellowship, a community dedicated to shaping future leaders, creating a better future and inspiring positive change in higher education,” says NCC President, David A. Ruth, Ph.D. 

Rising Presidents Fellows join a network of over 350 forward-thinking peers—175 of whom are sitting college presidents—who are applying concrete, grounded, and innovative strategies to meet student success challenges in their colleges. 

For bios and photos of all 40 leaders, visit highered.aspeninstitute.org/meet-the-rising-presidents-fellows.