Dr. Barbara E. Taylor is a senior consultant with the Academic Search Consultation Service in Washington, D.C. Before joining Academic Search, she served for 12 years as Director and then Vice President for Programs and Research at the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. Previously, she held administrative positions at Marymount College (Tarrytown, NY), Mansfield University, Pennsylvania State University, and the Central Administration of the State University of New York.

Before and since joining Academic Search, she has served as a consultant to more than 100 colleges, universities, and other non-profit organizations in executive search as well as governing board development, board-president and board-faculty relations, strategic planning, and assessing institutional condition.

Dr. Taylor is the author or co-author of seven books, including Improving the Performance of Governing Boards (Oryx Press, 1996); Strategic Indicators for Higher Education (Peterson’s, 1996); and The Effective Board of Trustees (Oryx Press, 1993). She has also published numerous papers, book chapters, and case studies addressing governance, strategic planning, and institutional financial condition, including the Harvard Business Review articles, "Charting the Territory of Nonprofit Boards" and "The New Work of the Nonprofit Board". Several major foundations, such as the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Lilly Endowment, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Exxon Education Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trusts, have supported her research.

She is a Trustee of Wittenberg University, a Trustee and Senior Fellow of the Cheswick Center, a member of the Advisory Council of In Trust magazine, a member of the National Advisory Council for Maryville College (TN), and a special member of the graduate faculty of the University of Maryland, College Park.

Education: Dr. Taylor holds degrees from the State University of New York College at Potsdam, Miami University, and the Pennsylvania State University and also attended Harvard University’s Institute for Educational Management.