Prior to joining NCHEMS in 1993, he was director of higher education policy at the Education Commission of the States (ECS). Before joining ECS in 1975, he served as a congressional staff member and was executive assistant to the Chancellor of the University of Maine System.

Aims is extensively involved in international education reform initiatives. He was rapporteur for education policy reviews for the each of the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) in 1999-2000 conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). OECD published these reviews in 2001 and they are available through the OECD website, http://www.oecd.org. Aims was a consultant to the World Bank on restructuring education in the Russian Federation in 1998-99. He was a member of the OECD teams for education policy reviews in the Russian Federation in 1997 and 1998. He is currently a member of the International Strategic Experts Group, sponsored by the Council of Europe and World Bank, that is advising the government of the Russian Federation on implementing education reform.

Aims has been an active board member at both the K-12 and higher education levels. From 1983 to 1991, he served as an elected member of the Board of Education for Littleton Public Schools, the last four years as president. From 1989 to 1997, he was a member of the Board of Trustees for the State Colleges in Colorado, serving as board chair from 1995 to 1997.

Education: Aims received his B.A. in political science from the University of Pennsylvania, his M.BA from the George Washington University, and his Ph.D. in social science from the Maxwell School, Syracuse University. (3/2002)