About Dr. O’Brien

Gregory O’Brien is former President of International Technological University and Distinguished President Emeritus of Argosy University (2004-07). Before joining Argosy, Dr. O’Brien served as Chancellor of the University of New Orleans for over 16 years (1987-2003), where he also taught psychology and public affairs. Previous positions include Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of South Florida, Provost of the University of Michigan-Flint and Dean of the School of Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.

Dr. O’Brien was the Director of the Human Services Design Laboratory at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, as well as an Associate in Psychiatry at the Laboratory of Community He earned his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in social psychology from Boston University.

Dr. O’Brien has consulted and published in areas of higher education, administration, change management, accreditation, for-profit education, organizational social psychology, inter-organizational relations, mental health and human services, international business and management, technology transfer, and research utilization. Dr. O’Brien served as Vice Chair and Member of the Board of Directors for the Council for Higher Education Accreditation from 2003 to 2009, and previously served as Chair of the Board of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. He was Chair of the NCAA Presidents Commission and President of The American College of Mental Health Administration. Dr. O’Brien served as Interim Superintendent of New Orleans Public Schools in 1999. Dr. O’Brien was inducted into Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame in 1999 and has received the US Navy’s Meritorious Service Award.

Currently, Dr. O’Brien leads The Higher Education Group, Inc., and consults with institutions of higher learning and educational systems in the US and abroad on issues of quality assurance, governance, accreditation, distance learning, economic development, and marketing. He has served on the Eligibility Committee and as an accreditation visiting team chair for the WASC Senior Commission since 2009. He has also chaired visiting teams for the Higher Learning Commission and SACS. He has lectured and consulted on quality assurance and accreditation in Croatia, China, India, and Malaysia.