Ralph Wolff

Country:

United States of America

WAAS Designation:

Fellow

Primary Position & Institution:

Founder and former President, The Quality Assurance Commons; Independent Consultant for Visioning, Strategic Thinking and Organizing for Change

Short Bio:

Ralph Wolff is the Founder and President of The Quality Assurance Commons, and an independent policy consultant focusing on accreditation and quality assurance processes in the US and internationally. He previously served as the president of the WASC Senior College and University Commission from 1996 through August 2013, and as Associate Executive Director since 1981. He is a member of the University Quality Assurance International Board (UQAIB) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and on the National Advisory Boards of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) and for the Lumina Foundation on the Degree Qualifications Profile. He also is a member of the Board of Trustees of the United States International University Africa, located in Nairobi, Kenya and Palo Alto University. He has published multiple articles and book chapters on accreditation, quality assurance, distance education, and the changing role of the library. Before joining the staff of WASC, Mr. Wolff was one of the founders of the Antioch School of Law in Washington DC, which now continues to operate as the David A. Clarke Law School at the University of the District of Columbia. The law school was the first-ever designed to prepare lawyers to serve in public interest and poverty law settings. He later became dean of the Antioch Graduate School of Education. He also served as Associate Provost, setting up internal quality assurance processes for the geographically dispersed college. In 1976, he was appointed a law professor at the University of Dayton. A graduate of Tufts University, Mr. Wolff received his JD with honors from the National Law Center at George Washington University. He continues to be a member of the Washington, DC bar. For his service in support of quality assurance and improvement in the WASC region and nationally he was awarded in 2008 the Virginia B. Smith Award for Innovation in Higher education and, in 2013, an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Loma Linda University.