A Community 60 Years in the Making

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.

Serving as President of the Association for Institutional Research during a time of profound disruption, I experienced firsthand the power of professional community. As institutions faced volatility and uncertainty, AIR became a place of steadiness—where leaders could ask hard questions, test ideas, and feel supported.

Guided by a justice-, equity-, diversity-, and inclusion-centered (JEDI) approach, we strengthened Board governance to ensure greater clarity, transparency, and shared accountability. Our goal was simple: build structures that supported both the membership and the mission. Governance reform was not procedural—it was relational. It ensured that diverse voices were heard and that decisions reflected collective stewardship.

For me, AIR has been more than an association—it has been a professional anchor. During moments when the weight of leadership felt heavy, this community reminded me that I was not alone. It deepened my courage, sharpened my purpose, and reaffirmed my belief that ethical, equity-centered governance can transform institutions and the people who steward them.

One beautiful spring day when I was a junior at the University of Rochester many years ago (there are a few beautiful days in Rochester), I had a thought: “How can I spend the rest of my life in college.” Well as it turned out, I did.

I went to the University of Michigan Center for the Study of Higher Education for a doctorate. There I learned about institutional research from Jimmy Doi, one of the early leaders in the field, and from Marv Peterson, a beloved mentor. That’s also when I attended my first AIR Forum—in New Orleans. That’s when I met Bill Tetlow, another past president who unfortunately passed a few years ago.

When I was invited to apply for the IR job at the University of Texas at Austin, I learned there were two other candidates: Leonard Romney from NCHEMS and Jim Firnberg from LSU. Since I knew them both, we discussed who should take the job. I guess I won.

Jim Firnberg became a life-long friend. We co-edited a New Directions in Institutional Research quarterly on “The Politics and Pragmatics of Institutional Research.” The editor-in chief of that series was then Marv Peterson and his associate editor was Pat Terenzini.

Several years after leading the Office of Institutional Studies (OIS) at UT Austin, I was asked to become the university’s Budget Director. I asked the VP for Business why he was interested in me. He said, “You know more about the Texas formula system than anyone else on campus.” That was true because OIS was responsible for all the data that went into the formula system for UT Austin. 

One day, the UT President asked me how much accounting training I had. I said, “Zero.” I then told him my background was in IR and that I viewed the budget as an IR project. There were no more questions.

The point of all this is that all my professional friends were/are from AIR. Institutional Research has been my professional identity for a very, very long time. I value the friendships I’ve made, and the things I’ve learned. Thanks to all whom I’ve met along the way.

AIR has been my professional family since entering the IR field in the late 1980s. I was warmly welcomed at my first AIR Forum by the Association’s members, officers and Past Presidents, some of whom were among its founders. As someone just beginning her IR journey, I was inspired by those leaders and awed that they would eagerly talk with and mentor newcomers. Their example encouraged me to become more deeply involved in the Association, and I had the honor of serving as President in 1999-2000. My theme, Partnering for Informed Policy, reflected the partnerships AIR had begun to build with NCES and other organizations to share feedback, improve survey quality, and offer IPEDS workshops. That theme, along with a focus on data-informed decision-making, resonated through the evolution of my career, which included leading data collection, analysis, and strategic planning for several college and university systems and, ultimately, serving as a college president and trustee. AIR and the Institutional Research community made those opportunities possible through providing leadership development, a broad institution-wide perspective, and knowledge of how to transform data into valuable information for decision-making. But, as I learned at my first AIR Forum, it’s the people and lasting friendships that make AIR truly special.

Ellen Chaffee, AIR President 1991-1992