Leah Matthews, PhD, has led the Distance Education Accrediting Commission as its executive director for more than 10 years. She is a renowned expert on distance education, speaking frequently nationally and internationally on accreditation and distance education.
Dr. Mathews served as a non-federal negotiator for the U.S. Department of Education’s 2014 and 2019 Rulemaking Sessions on multiple areas that included distance education and state authorization. Additionally, she served on the steering committee and executive council of the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET) from 2016-2019; as vice president of the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) board of directors from 2018-2020; and as a board member of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) from 2016-2021.
Dr. Matthews held leadership roles in both accreditation and education prior to joining the DEAC. She served as the vice president for recognition services at the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), managing the recognition process for 60 accreditors that provide regional, national, and programmatic accreditation; and she served on the staff of the Accrediting Commission for Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) for nearly 12 years. Dr. Matthews also worked for five years as a civilian-based at the U.S. Army Japan Headquarters in Zama, Japan, where she directed family support services and education programs for children and youth; and she taught for several years in the Baltimore City Schools system.
Dr. Matthews earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Education from Westminster College, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania; a Master of Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma; and, a PhD in Higher Education from George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.ure in Virginia.