President/CEO

Cameron Staples, an attorney and former Connecticut State Representative, was appointed new President/Chief Executive Officer at NEASC effective July 1, 2011.

Mr. Staples has a breadth of educational and legislative experience. As a State Representative for the 96^th Assembly District of Connecticut, which includes New Haven and Hamden, Staples served as House Chairman of both the Education Committee and the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. In 2010, he was appointed by the US Senate, and later elected Chair, to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), a committee that advises the Secretary of Education on higher education accreditation and other policy matters.

Staples’ previous appointive offices included Commissioner of the Education Commission of the States, Co-Chairman of the Connecticut International Education Advisory Committee, Vice-Chairman of the New England Board of Higher Education, and member of the Budget and Review Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Staples is familiar with regional accreditation having been a member of NEASC’s Commission on American and International Schools Abroad (CAISA) from 2000 to 2010. He has participated on international accreditation team visits to China, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Thailand and Germany.