Dr. Keith Bird Chancellor-Emeritus Joins CSW

Publication Date: 07/02/2009

Dr. Keith W. Bird, Chancellor-Emeritus of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, to Become a Senior Policy Fellow for Workforce and Postsecondary Education at the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce.

ANN ARBOR, MI, July 1, 2009 – Dr. Keith Bird, who most recently served as the Chancellor for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), will become a Senior Policy Fellow at the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW) starting July 1, 2009.  Dr. Bird’s national renown as a leader in community college development and innovation initiatives will inform his work at CSW. His CSW portfolio will include advancing national projects related to helping low-income, nontraditional and other adults access and successfully complete post secondary education.  On related fronts, he will continue building and expanding partnerships with networks of community college leaders and advancing public policy development related to the community college, adult learning and certification fields.
 
Prior to joining CSW, Dr. Bird was responsible for KCTCS’s system-wide direction of academic, student and workforce and economic development initiatives. His highly recognized KCTCS work also resulted in strategic partnerships with business and industry, secondary and postsecondary institutions, and state and federal government that increased and promoted statewide access to postsecondary education, workforce training, and lifelong learning through programs such as KY WINS, Ready-to-Work, the Center for Auto Manufacturing Excellence, the Kentucky Coal Academy, and the North American Racing Academy.
 
Dr. Bird’s dedication to KCTCS, along with his participation and leadership on national boards or workgroups, including the U.S. Department of Education Fulbright Advisory Board, U.S. Department of Labor E3 Collaborative, American Association of Community College Global Education Committee, Community College Resource Center Advisory Board, ACT Workforce Development Advisory Board, and CAEL National Policy Network on Adult Learning, garnered KCTCS prestige and national prominence.
 
During his time with KCTCS, Dr. Bird served as the Director of the Ford Foundation’s “Bridges to Opportunity” project, which was designed to improve access and the success of low-income adults by organizing workforce and education systems around long-term comprehensive career pathways that integrate academic, workforce training and development and remedial programs.  He was also the principal investigator (PI) for the KCTCS/National Science Foundation (NSF) Kentucky SCANS project and Co-PI for the KCTCS/NSF Kentucky Information Technology Center grant. In addition, he chairs the National Visiting Committee of the NSF funded Midwest Center for Information Technology.
 
Every place Dr. Bird has worked he has been a catalyst for innovation and change through the development of major systemic initiatives. We’re delighted that he is joining CSW and know that he will continue to be an agent for creative and constructive change in workforce development and postsecondary education.
 
Dr. Bird received his B.A. from Alma College and holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Duke University. In 1969-70, he was a Fulbright scholar at the Free University in Berlin.