Brian K. Fitzgerald, PhD

Chief Executive Officer, Business-Higher Education Forum

Brian K. Fitzgerald is a leading analyst and advocate for higher education and science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. Dr. Fitzgerald serves as BHEF’s chief executive officer and has led the organization to develop an ambitious policy and programmatic agenda focused on college readiness, access, and success, particularly in high-need disciplines such as science and math, and spearheaded major programmatic initiatives to support this work. Under Dr. Fitzgerald’s leadership, both of BHEF’s key initiatives—Securing America’s Leadership in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) that, in partnership with Raytheon Company, produced a groundbreaking simulation model of STEM education, and the College Readiness, Access and Success Initiative (CRI): An Agenda for Educational Success—have grown as signatures of the organization.

Prior to joining BHEF, Dr. Fitzgerald served as staff director for the federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, which advises Congress on higher education and student aid policy. During his tenure, the Advisory Committee released several influential reports, including: Access Denied, Empty Promises, and The Student Aid Gauntlet; and also commissioned The Condition of Access (edited by Donald Heller). Dr. Fitzgerald has written numerous magazine articles, papers and book chapters on policies to improve college access and success. He also served as an adjunct associate professor of government at American University, teaching advanced studies courses on the politics of education. In the private sector, Dr. Fitzgerald held senior project management positions for large-scale education research projects for federal agencies. Earlier in his career, he served as assistant dean and as a lecturer in education at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.