Gustavo A. Mellander

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Dr. Gustavo A. Mellander was born in California, lived in many Latin American countries and has worked in several states. He has enjoyed a distinguished career in Higher Education for nearly fifty years.

He earned a Ph. D. from George Washington University in 1966 and later was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters by Felician College in 1977. He was selected to attend the American Council on Education's Institute for Academic Deans and later its Institute for College Presidents.

He has served as a faculty member, a department chair, a division chair, a university dean at several institutions, a president at two colleges, a district chancellor of a two-college district with a student body of 35,000 and lastly as a graduate school university dean.

He also served as a dean of business affairs and a university chancellor in interim capacities. He is a founding member of the American Association of University Administrators. Later he helped create a national institute to train college presidents. Dr. Mellander helped establish several doctoral programs and taught doctoral level leadership courses at Lehigh University, Inter American University and George Mason University. He has also lectured doctoral candidates at Columbia University, Seton Hall University, Fairleigh Dickinson University and George Mason University and the University of Puerto Rico.

He established Latin American Studies Departments at three universities and wrote several books on Latin America, including the critically acclaimed "The United States in Panamanian Politics: The Intriguing Formative Years." Danville, Ill.: Interstate Publishers. OCLC 138568. It was categorized as a "best seller" at the United Nations and is widely quoted in academic and diplomatic circles.

In 1999, he and his wife Nelly Mellander co-authored Charles Edward Magoon: The Panama Years." Río Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial Plaza Mayor. ISBN 1563281554. OCLC 42970390. He has also written books on Malaysia and Singapore, United States history and co-authored a book analyzing college presidents. For over 20 years he has contributed a column every month to The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education magazine. Many of these columns have been reprinted in academic journals; see "The Education Digest," May 2007.

After serving as the Dean of Academic Affairs at York College Of Pennsylvania, he was appointed a Director at the New Jersey Department of Higher Education. He exercised academic program approval and financial overview for 38 colleges and universities. He worked closely with those institutions, their Boards and with the New Jersey Department of Higher Education. He helped write legislation and upon its passage, he authored statewide implementation standards.

Dr. Mellander served on ACE's New Jersey Panel for the Advancement of Women in Higher Education. He is a founding member of the American Association of University Administrators and was elected to its first Board of Trustees.

He also served on a city Board of Education as well as on the New Jersey State Board of Education. He was appointed to several College Boards and National Commissions. He chaired Governor-elect Thomas Kean's Higher Education transition team in 1981.

He has served on 53 college accreditation teams and as a consultant to numerous colleges. He also helped write a higher education Master Plan for Hungary in the 1990s. In 1997 he was offered the Chancellorship of 12 colleges in the United Arab Emirates. He is a founding member of the Center for International Education at George Mason University. (See: http://cehd.gmu.edu/centers/cie/professional_development/faculty_asociate_profile/)

In summary Dr. Mellander was a successful university administrator for 15 years and a college president for nearly twenty years. In 1992 he was appointed a Graduate School Dean as well as Professor of Educational Leadership and College Administration at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

While there he was selected by a faculty vote as the best administrator at George Mason University. His research interests include the role of educational leaders, how colleges transform themselves, and faculty as change agents. He is presently a Contributing Editor of The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education and writes a monthly column.

For further information see: George Mason University Archives; ERIC Files, Articles written. U.S. Department of Education; New York Times Archives; Educational Digest, May 2008; The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Archieves; U.S. News and World Report Archives; Google