Western Association of Schools and Colleges

Ralph A. Wolff, President and Executive Director of the Senior College Commission of WASC, was appointed in 1996, after serving as Associate Executive Director from 1981-1995. Wolff is responsible for setting goals, priorities, and policy for the Senior College Accrediting Commission. As Executive Director, he coordinated the extensive process leading to the 2001 Handbook of Accreditation. Prior to joining WASC, Wolff was the founder and Director of Planning of the Antioch School of Law, Dean of the Graduate School of Education at Antioch, and a law professor at the University of Dayton. A graduate of Tufts University, Wolff received his JD with honors from the National Law Center at George Washington University.
rwolff@wascsenior.org
(510) 748-9001 ext. 314 (Assistant)

Teri Cannon, Executive Associate Director, joined WASC in 2006 after serving as Dean of John F. Kennedy University Law School from 2003-06. Teri has served as Dean of several private law schools and as Associate Dean at San Francisco State University. She also has extensive experience in accreditation through her involvement with the American Bar Association, where she conducted over 60 visits, served as an ABA Commissioner, and authored the first and second editions of ABA Approval: A Reference Manual for Paralegal Educators. Teri graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Political Science and completed her J.D. at Loyola Law School.
tcannon@wascsenior.org
(510) 748-9001 ext. 315

Richard Winn, Associate Director, was appointed to WASC in 2003. Following more than 15 years as a faculty member in several colleges, he served as Assistant Dean for Curriculum at Western University's College of Medicine. Richard holds an EdD in Educational Leadership from the University of La Verne. His dissertation examined universities that employed the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Criteria to achieve their reaffirmation of accreditation. He is currently serving his third term as a member of the Board of Examiners for the National Baldrige Quality Award. In addition to supporting a portfolio of institutions, Richard oversees the eligibility process and WASC relations with the US Department of Education and with CHEA.
rwinn@wascsenior.org
(510) 748-9001 ext. 335

Barbara Wright, Associate Director, a well-known and respected national expert on assessment, has extensive experience in accreditation, serving six years as a member of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. She has experience in a variety of higher education administrative positions, and is a frequent consultant on assessment, general education, foreign language instruction, and faculty development. She holds a Ph.D. in German literature from Berkeley and taught for many years at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, prior to her appointment at WASC.
bwright@wascsenior.org
(510) 748-9001 ext. 313

Richard Osborn, Associate Director, joined WASC in July, 2009, after serving eight years as President of Pacific Union College in the Napa Valley, California. As a child, he grew up in Lebanon and Uruguay. He has worked at every level of education including service as a teacher, principal, and superintendent at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels. As a regional and national education vice president, he served as a board member/consultant for fifteen college/university boards conducting many board training sessions and presenting seminars including strategic planning. He has also served on several hospital boards. He has served in a leadership capacity in several state and national associations including recent service as Chair of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities. He has an undergraduate degree from Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, Maryland, and has a M.A. and Ph.D. in History from the University of Maryland specializing in colonial Virginia history.
rosborn@wascsenior.org
(510) 748-9001 ext. 310

Administrative Staff