The Academy - Global Leadership Training

The Chair Academy
Worldwide Leadership Development in Higher Education

Thank you for 34 years of support...

The Chair Academy was founded in 1991, by visionary leaders, Gary Filan, Larry Christensen, and Paul Elsner. The Academy was designed to be centered around developing transformational leaders to advance their academic and administrative leadership goals.

Offering world-class, competency-based programs, the Academy’s key ingredient has always been our ability to connect and cultivate a leadership community, promoting a forum for collaboration, insight, discovery, and positive change.

The Academy is proud to have touched on the lives of over 30,000 Academy graduates and International Leadership Conference participants.

We have learned that Mesa Community College, on behalf of Maricopa County Community College District, has made the decision to close Chair Academy operations effective June 30, 2025.

All Session 1 Academies have been cancelled.

As the Chair Academy Team works through this transition, please know we have appreciated the opportunity to develop higher education leaders worldwide. The Chair Academy’s programs have impacted careers and changed lives, and our program graduates share in these meaningful moments, stories, and successes.

Thank you for looking to the Academy for your professional and leadership development. The Academy Team remains committed, inspired, and proud of the work we have done. As we prepare to close the Chair Academy, we know our founder, Gary Filan, and former leader, Richard Strand, would be honored knowing that the Chair Academy’s legacy lives in the leaders we developed.

We appreciate your support and understanding as we navigate this difficult process.

Lead forward.

The Academy Team

"The leader of the future must be tireless, inventive, observant, risk-taking, an ever-hopeful builder and enabler of management and leadership teams within the college. If successful, the leader will have constructed teams that carry out the organizations vision, goals and purpose. By working together, these teams will accomplish more than any individual member ever could."

-- Dr. Gary Filan - Chair Academy Founder

What is the Academy?

The Academy is a premier leadership development organization for higher education and organizational leaders globally. Our mission is centered around advancing academic and administrative leadership across all levels of higher education. With a 30-year history offering world-class, competency-based leadership development programs and services, the Academy develops transformational leaders. A key ingredient to our success is the ability to connect and cultivate a leadership community, providing a forum for collaboration, insight, and discovery.

Learn about the history of the academy

ACADEMY PROGRAMS

Take the first step toward becoming a transformational leader. Foundation and Advanced Programs for all levels of leadership.

POWERED BY

The Academy has been a department of
Mesa Community College for over 30 years.
Click here to learn about out MCC and it's
incredible educational opportunities.

What Participants
are Saying

Conference/Academy Programs

We asked for your feedback.
Here is what you said...

Best professional development experience I have ever been a part of. I fell in love with my job again.

Program Director Victoria Polytechnic, Melbourne, Australia

The depth and breadth of the [Chair Academy’s] Advance Program greatly exceeded my expectations. It was by far the best leadership development program I’ve ever attended.

Department Chair Mesa Community College, Mesa, Arizona

The... Foundation program provided me with the training and tools to grow as an academic leader. The instructors were truly invested in my immediate leadership growth and development. The skills and knowledge I learned to apply definitely helped me not only become a better leader, but quickly advance my career.

Dean of Health and Sciences Arkansas State University-Beebe, Beebe, AR

I had a chance to attend the Foundation Program several years ago. While I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the Advance Program, it helped rekindle my interest in being the leader I know I can be.

Program Director Suffolk County Community College, Suffolk, New York

I have been to workshops and left wondering what I really learned, as if to check off a box for my organization. The Chair Academy Foundation Academy was not like that. I feel energized and inspired. I have found my voice and feel better prepared with relevant and practical best practices.

Program Director Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

I’ve . . . never had the benefit of any formal leadership training. The Advance Program came along just at the right time to allow me to find and refine my leadership voice . . . I only wish I’d discovered it 10 years ago.

Vice-President Chippewa Valley Technical College, Madison, Wisconsin

The best leadership program I have experienced in 20 years. I feel empowered and will aspire to the ideals of good leadership practices. This understanding of authentic and transformative leadership makes for better followers.

DeanBritish Columbia Institute of Technology, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

I have to start by saying that in the past year I feel like I got my life back. I have had a number of epiphanies, which is good because it makes me feel like I am actually learning and growing. I have very much enjoyed the mentorship portion of this program, as it has been extremely valuable in my professional development.

Associate Dean British Columbia Institute of Technology, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The Academy Hub

About Us

The Academy, a department of Mesa Community College, is dedicated to delivering cutting-edge leadership development training to leaders around the world.

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