Dr. Michelle Newman serves as Chief Academic Officer for American Public University System, providing strategic leadership and oversight for academic priorities and operations across the System. In this role, she advances academic quality, student success, institutional governance, and continuous improvement while fostering collaboration among academic units and supporting the System’s mission.
Since coming on board in 2007, Dr. Newman has contributed 19 years of service in progressively responsible leadership roles. She has led functions spanning academic advising, academic operations, disability services, catalog and policy management, faculty scheduling, registrar services, and transfer credit evaluation. Among her accomplishments, she expanded the academic advising team from 12 to more than 80 members, increased annual degree-conferral opportunities from four to six, and championed a governance structure for systematic and transparent policy review.
Dr. Newman holds a Ph.D. in Management with a focus in Learning Management and a Master of Philosophy in Management from Walden University, a Master of Arts in Management from American Military University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from George Mason University. Previous professional experience includes management positions in private industry and working with students with learning disabilities as a middle school special education teacher.