Blair Dowden Joins LRAP

Dr. Blair Dowden has been named the inaugural Fellow of the LRAP Foundation and has joined the advisory board of LRAP Association.

Dr. Dowden is an exemplary leader in higher education. He served on the executive committee of the NAICU, was board chairman of both the CCCU and the NAIA, and held membership on the ACE board. He is president emeritus at Huntington University. Dr. Dowden has been a strategic advisor to several fellow presidents and a consultant and advisor on numerous regional accreditation teams.  He is the author of several articles and book chapters and has lectured on a host of wide-ranging topics.

Of his appointment, Foundation President Carroll Stevens noted that “Dr. Dowden’s surpassing overall experience will be of enormous benefit to the Foundation’s research agenda and to the entire LRAP community.”  Peter Samuelson, LRAP Association president and LRAP Foundation board chair, echoed the praise by saying: “Dr. Dowden’s pioneering use of LRAP is one example of the innovation he has helped bring to higher education. A friend since LRAP’s inception in 2008, I very much look forward to his advice and counsel.”

The LRAP Foundation promotes access, choice and completion in higher education, with a special emphasis on affordability and the manageability of educational debt. While at Huntington, Dr. Dowden was a pioneering leader in introducing LRAP at the undergraduate level, the concept having been developed by the Yale Law School in the late 1980s.

Dr. Blair Dowden is a graduate of Wheaton College and holds an Ed.D. from Ball State University.