RUFUS GLASPER, Ph.D., CPA, CGFM
Chancellor
Maricopa County Community College District
Arizona
Rufus Glasper, Ph.D., certified public accountant and certified government financial manager, has been at the helm of one of the nation’s largest multi-college community college systems for three years. Prior to being named Acting Chancellor in May 2003, Dr. Glasper served as the Executive Vice Chancellor for Human Resources and Administration. Dr. Glasper was appointed as Chancellor on September 23, 2003. He came to the Maricopa County Community College District in 1986 as Director of Finance, and in all, has held executive level leadership roles there for the past 20 years.
Dr. Glasper’s success at the Maricopa Community Colleges has been built on his personal code of ethics, a strong sense of leadership and service, and accomplished technical competence. His expertise as a Registered School Business Administrator and Department Director of Financial Planning and Budgeting for the Chicago Public Schools, as well as earlier positions in business and finance, have proven invaluable in building a financially strong institution. He provides leadership to system wide strategic planning, bringing all ten colleges and multiple learning centers into alignment with common goals and methodologies.
Dr. Glasper’s evolving career in education finance has been impressive. Before embarking on his distinguished leadership at the Maricopa Community Colleges, he served in posts ranging from school business manager and Government Finance Officers Association accounting and finance trainer to Director for Financial Planning and Budget for the Chicago Public Schools. Over the years, he has convinced organizations to re-examine financial models, leadership styles, and ethical standards, and has promoted personal and professional accountability and organizational development wherever he has served. His influence over future education leaders continues; he is an adjunct professor at Arizona State University where he teaches Higher Education Finance and Budget in the graduate college, and served as a mentor for the National Institute for Leadership Development and the Maricopa Community Colleges’ Women’s Mentor Program.
Dr. Glasper is an active community member, currently serving by appointment of the Governor as a board member and chair for the Arizona Health Facilities Authority. He also serves as co-chair with Arizona State Governor Janet Napolitano on the P-20 Council designed to improve education in Arizona and to ensure more students graduate from high school, succeed in college and are ready for the modern workforce. Dr. Glasper is also on the boards of the Greater Phoenix Leadership, Valley of the Sun United Way, and Phoenix Art Museum. He has previously served as the finance consultant for the Maricopa County Hospital Health Systems Board. Dr. Glasper is a long-standing member of the Greater Phoenix Urban League, and the chairperson of the Board for Black Family Child Services that supports the highly successful Teen Choice Academy Charter School. In addition, he is a past chairperson of the Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants Board of Directors, a member of the Phoenix Community Alliance, the Council for the American Institute for Certified Public Accountants, served on the Board of the National Association of Colleges and University Business Officers, and was the chairperson of the Special Review Executive Committee on College and University Reporting for the Government Finance Officers Association.
Several awards and achievements have marked Dr. Glasper’s career; notable among them was the Kellogg Foundation Fellowship in Community College Leadership in 1989-1990. In 1997, the Maricopa County Chapter of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) honored him with the Roy Wilkins Award for leadership, hard work, and dedication to the ideals of the NAACP. In May 2006, the Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants honored Dr. Glasper by making him a Life Member of the ASCPA.
Rufus Glasper earned a Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Luther College (Decorah, Iowa), and a Master’s and advanced degrees in school business administration from Northern Illinois University. He received his Doctorate of Philosophy degree in higher education finance from the University of Arizona. In May of 2005 he was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate in Political Science from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.