Sharon D. Herzberger
Senior Consultant and Senior Executive Coach
Sharon.Herzberger@academicsearch.org
Dr. Sharon D. Herzberger is an esteemed Senior Consultant and Executive Coach with an admirable history of making an impact on the institutions she serves. As President of Whittier College for 13 years, Dr. Herzberger grew enrollment and transformed the private liberal arts school into a thriving institution that earned accolades as one of the most diverse liberal arts colleges in the nation. With four decades in academia fueled by the desire to expand opportunities to people of all backgrounds, her strengths lie in fostering diversity, increasing enrollment, and understanding the factors that lead to good–and bad–decisions.
Before her presidency, Dr. Herzberger was a psychology professor at Northwestern University for five years and at Trinity College for 25 years. She performed extensive research in social psychology and authored numerous scholarly articles and two books. Much of her research focused on biases in individual and group decision-making, giving her a breadth of knowledge that is proving useful in the consulting realm. In addition to teaching, Dr. Herzberger was Trinity’s Special Assistant to the President for Affirmative Action, Associate Vice President for the college’s campaign, Vice President for Student Services, and Vice President for Institutional Planning and Administration.
In 2000, Dr. Herzberger founded the Consortium on High Achievement and Success (CHAS) to reshape institutional practices and promote equitable outcomes among students of all backgrounds. She established a network of like-minded colleagues focused on improving the college experience for historically underrepresented populations on predominantly white campuses. CHAS continues to work toward this objective and includes 18 member schools.
Dr. Herzberger has mentored countless administrators throughout her career as they transitioned to new posts. She continues this work through Rutgers University’s Center for Minority Serving Institutions and provides executive coaching services through Academic Search. She is deeply passionate about cultivating opportunities for personal growth and leadership. She is attentive and inquisitive, and she has the proficiency to help colleges and universities make the strategic decisions necessary to improve outcomes.
Dr. Herzberger has held leadership positions in many national and state organizations. She chaired the NCAA Division III President’s Council and was an NCAA’s Executive Board member. She also served on the boards of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), the Annapolis Group, and the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities.
Dr. Herzberger earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology at Penn State University and her master’s and doctorate in psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
