President Gregory W. Fowler, PhD, is a visionary leader in global higher education, committed to advancing educational access for adult learners and promoting opportunity for underserved populations.
Now in his sixth year as president of University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), he has led a comprehensive transformation of the university ecosystem, from recruiting and support services to course design, space utilization, partnerships, institutional effectiveness, and more. By leveraging artificial intelligence and data science, he is creating an institution that thrives in volatile markets, prioritizing agility and innovation and focusing on the needs of learners and the workforce.
Under his leadership, UMGC emerged from the global pandemic and entered a period of robust growth, serving 100,000 learners in a single year for the first time. This expansion led to the opening of new national and overseas locations and double-digit increases in new enrollments from institutional partnerships. Persistence and success increased as well, with the university granting a record 16,108 credentials in FY 24 and 19,330 in FY 25. This has cemented the university’s reputation as a premier destination for learners seeking more than traditional education has to offer.
Previously, as a board member and commissioner of the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), Fowler co-chaired the team responsible for the future of post-pandemic remote postsecondary learning experiences. As a two-time Fulbright Senior Scholar, he assessed the impact of the Bologna Accords and collaborated with lawmakers, faculty, and academic administrators to explore the future of the European Union and education’s role in it.
He currently serves on the governing board of the Presidents Forum, the ASU-GSV Higher Education Insights Board, the Executive Board of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area, and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Board of Directors.
Prior to his tenure at UMGC, he served as president of Southern New Hampshire University Global Campus and held senior academic and administrative positions at Western Governors University.
A graduate of Morehouse College, Fowler was a Charles A. Dana Scholar at Duke University and has been a featured higher education leader at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, as well as completing leadership and negotiation training at Harvard’s Business School. He holds master’s degrees from George Mason University and Western Governors University and a PhD from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo.