AIR’s story is not just about milestones. It is about people.
Throughout this anniversary year, we are sharing stories from members across generations—reflections on what AIR has meant to them, how our community has evolved, and why this work continues to matter. New stories will be added regularly, so we invite you to check back often and see how this living history unfolds.
We also invite you to add your voice. Submit your own story (150 words or fewer) to jchu@airweb.org and help shape the narrative of our community.
These stories are AIR.
Trudy Bers, AIR President 1995-1996
"I was privileged to meet lifelong colleagues who became my friends."
I came to AIR in the early 1990s, or maybe even the 1980s. My first AIR Forum was in Denver, where I knew no one. What I found was a conference ahead of its time in providing ways for people to connect—through continental breakfasts, optional and wonderful excursions to local sites, and session facilitators who made real attempts to engage attendees. I was privileged to meet lifelong colleagues who became my friends. And no, I never was able to create a robust elevator speech explaining IR.
Glenn W. James, AIR President 2016-2017
"AIR was an incubator for learning, growing, and propelling the improvement of higher education. … The Association and its members have achieved much and have done so with camaraderie, mutual encouragement, good humor, and empirical excellence."
I am exceedingly grateful for AIR and the extensive impact and influence that the Association has had upon higher education, associated institutions and entities, and the many colleagues and practitioners therein. AIR has been an indispensable learning laboratory and an outstanding convergence of ideas, thinkers, and doers who unquestionably have worked to cultivate and improve higher education locally and internationally. My involvement with IR began decades ago at Virginia Tech, which had a stellar IR operation and team that was led by James R. Montgomery, a founding member and early president of AIR, and Gerald W. McLaughlin, another prolific and generous contributor to the profession and to AIR during the first half century of the Association. I was fortunate to work with and among a dozen outstanding Virginia Tech IR staff members who were exceptionally skilled at developing research strategies to solve problems. They were exemplary at sharing solutions and knowledge with colleagues via presentations, publications, collaborations, and more. AIR was an incubator for learning, growing, and propelling the improvement of higher education. Co-authors and contributors to the published history of the first 50 years of AIR know that there are many wonderful contributors and contributions that are fundamental to the strength, value, and impact of AIR over the years. The Association and its members have achieved much and have done so with camaraderie, mutual encouragement, good humor, and empirical excellence. A substantial volume could be written about the mutually supportive partnerships among AIR and the affiliated international, regional, and state associations and entities in other related disciplines of the higher education enterprise. In the interest of brevity, I will simply say that AIR and its members have been tremendously impactful in an array of ways. I have witnessed it, and I have experienced it. I always will appreciate the synergy and interactive development of our Association and its many members. AIR is a treasure.
Jonathan Gagliardi, AIR President 2023-2024
"I’m so grateful to AIR for the profound and wonderful impact that its people have had on my life!"
It’s hard to believe that AIR has been my professional home for more than 15 years! It all began when I was lucky enough to be selected for the AIR, NSF, NCES Data Policy Institute. At the time, I was completing my Ph.D. program and trying to figure out what would come after. The program gave me an opportunity to spend an entire week in Washington, D.C., where I would go on to meet lifelong friends and mentors. It was there that I realized my desire to live in the District, my passion for the intersection between data, analytics, and organizational transformation, and the truly wonderful community that AIR has created and sustained. I’m so grateful to AIR for the profound and wonderful impact that its people have had on my life!
Robert Toutkoushian, AIR President 2009-2010
"AIR holds a special place in my heart."
AIR holds a special place in my heart. It was my first "professional home" that I stumbled upon when I started working in IR back in 1990 at the University of Minnesota. What I enjoyed the most about AIR is that it brought together researchers, practitioners, and administrators in a way that allowed us to work together to examine important issues for higher education. Folks such as Pat Terenzini, Ernie Pascarella, George Kuh, Gary Pike, John Smart, Fred Volkwein, Steve DesJardins, and other leading academics served as role models for how research can be integrated into the field of IR. The Association had formal connections with several leading academic journals and used them to highlight work presented at the annual conference. The discussions at the annual conference among people with different roles in IR were truly enlightening and energizing and had a big impact on my career.