Dr. Elsa M. Núñez AWA ’02 is the President of Eastern Connecticut State University, joining the institution in 2006 with more than 20 years of senior academic administration experience. A tireless advocate for closing the education achievement gap, Elsa’s leadership has been instrumental in Eastern achieving its highest four-year graduation rate in the 125-year history of the University.

“Whether we look at it as a moral imperative to give those less fortunate than us a better chance of living the American dream, or we see this in stark economic terms — experts suggest that closing the achievement gap between America’s haves and have-nots could add as much as 2-4 percent to our Gross Domestic Product — improving academic performance among at-risk groups is good public policy for those experiencing it as well as society at large.”