MISSION & LEADERSHIP

Constance St. Germain, EdD, JD

President
Capella University

Dr. Constance St. Germain serves as president for Capella University. She joined Capella University in 2017 as its chief academic officer and senior vice president of academic affairs. In 2019 she was appointed provost and in 2023 became president.

Prior to joining Capella, she was the executive dean for the College of Humanities and Sciences at University of Phoenix. While there, Dr. St. Germain positioned the college as an incubator for continued growth and development to transform students into socially aware, critically thinking global citizens.

In addition to her academic career, Dr. St. Germain is a U.S. Army veteran and served as a major in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. While on active duty, she held assignments as an attorney at military posts including the 82D Airborne Division and XVIII Airborne Corps Fort Bragg, NC.

She holds a Doctor of Education in higher education and organizational change from Benedictine University; a Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore School of Law; and a Bachelor of Arts from George Mason University. She is admitted to practice as an attorney in Vermont, Virginia, and Maryland, as well as several federal courts. St. Germain’s research focus is on women and leadership.

Andrew (Andy) E. Watt

President, US Higher Education, Strategic Education, Inc.

Andrew E. Watt has been with the company since 2002.  He previously served as Chief Operating Officer for Strategic Education and Sr. Vice President of Post-Secondary Education for Capella Education Company.  Prior to that, Andy held roles in the Capella organization as Vice President Colleges and University Operations, Chief Operations Officer and Vice President and General Manager for the College of Business, Technology and Undergraduate Studies, where he led a team of Deans, Market Directors, and Enrollment and Advising leaders to develop and deliver high quality, highly differentiated programs for our learners.  Additionally, Andy has held a variety of leadership positions across the Capella organization, including roles in operations, finance, analytics and the markets & products team.

Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Watt worked in transaction advisory services at both Deloitte & Touche LLP and Arthur Andersen LLP.

Charlyn Hilliman, PhD, MPA

Chief Diversity Officer & Vice President

Dr. Hilliman has worked for the university since 2006, having served on the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and as a scientific merit reviewer; a residency instructor; a subject matter expert in research, criminal justice, and public administration; and the comprehensive examination lead. Most recently Dr. Hilliman served as the dean of the School of Public Service Leadership and faculty chair for the Capella University’s public administration degree programs. Dr. Hilliman also spent her career in health care information technology leadership at Columbia University and Florida International University, and has worked as a director of community programs evaluations and policy initiatives for the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Hilliman holds both a PhD and Master of Philosophy in Criminal Justice from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), as well as a Master of Public Administration from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY.

Barbara Butts Williams, PhD

Executive Dean, Social Responsibility & Community Engagement

Barbara Butts Williams, PhD, joined Capella in 2002 and currently leads the university’s social responsibility and community engagement strategy. She is also Dean Emerita, School of Business and Technology and previously served as Executive Dean of External Relations & Partnerships, Dean, School of Business and Technology, and Dean, School of Education.  

Prior to joining Capella, Dr. Butts Williams worked with Growth Partners Consulting, the St. Paul Companies, Wilson Learning Corporation, Control Data Corporation, and the University of Michigan’s Graduate School of Business.  Her community service work involves leadership roles or membership on non-profit and private boards including Allina Health Systems, Metropolitan Economic Development Association, Minnesota’s Sports Facilities Authority, MN Chapter National Association of Corporate Directors, and Capella University’s School of Business, Technology and Health Care Administration Advisory Board.   

Dr. Butts Williams has received numerous awards and recognitions throughout her career.  She has served as an adjunct faculty, guest lecturer, keynote speaker, panelist and workshop leader at various universities, corporate events, and conferences.  In addition, she has served as an advisor at several universities including, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, and Harvard University.

Jessica Hunter

Sr. Director, Career, Alumni, and Event Services

Jessica Hunter joined the University in 2003 and currently serves as the Director of Career, Alumni and Event Services at Capella University. In this role, Jessica is responsible for engaging key learner and alumni communities, amplifying academic and professional success, delivering transformational experiences, and collaborating on business development.

During her tenure with Capella, Jessica has held various roles including supporting training and organizational development for faculty and staff, collaborating and leading event execution related to in-person residency and commencement experiences, managing contracts and relationships with key external partners, and leading the events and community experience team. Her insights into university operations, understanding of learner and alumni interests and relationship management are invaluable in driving successful experiences for multiple university communities.

Jessica holds a bachelor’s degree in human resource development from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She is an active member of Meeting Planners International, Professional Convention Management Association and the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Cheryl Boncuore, PhD

Interim Dean, School of Business, Technology and Health Care Administration
Capella University

Dr. Cheryl Boncuore is a veteran in creating and managing innovative curriculum and assessment to ensure that academic programs have the greatest impact on learner success. Serving as Interim Dean of the School of Business, Technology, and Healthcare Administration at Capella University, she focuses on curricular alignment with innovative strategies and current-world connections, so learners gain the skills to become great leaders and have a positive and lasting impact on the world around them. She is an expert in technology implementation, assessment, and curriculum design and enjoys building high performing teams. Boncuore joined Capella in 2019 as associate dean of the School of Business, Technology, and Health Care Administration. Prior to that she served as Dean of Faculty and Degree programs at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management and in academic leadership roles at Kendall College and Roosevelt University. Dr. Boncuore has earned the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy in Education, Professional Studies specializing in academic technology; Master of Arts in Training and Development specializing in adult learning; and a Bachelor of Science in Communication.

Lisa Kreeger, PhD

Dean, School of Nursing and Health Sciences

Dr. Lisa Kreeger held a number of positions at Capella before assuming the role of dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences. She began in School of Business and Technology as a member of the Institutional Review Board before joining the School of Nursing and Health Science as a faculty member, program chair, and interim dean. Kreeger brings a combination of academic and health care industry experience building from her roots as a clinical nurse. Her career includes consulting and management positions with large international corporations where she focused on change, strategy, innovation, and leadership excellence and faculty and academic leadership positions at a large private university and an online university.  Kreeger holds a BSN from DePaul university, an MSN from Drexel University, an MBA from Seattle University, and a PhD with a focus on leadership and change in organizations from Antioch University.

Joshua Stanley, EdD

Dean, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Dr. Joshua Stanley serves as dean for the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Capella University. Prior to this role, he served as dean for the School of Counseling and Human Services, interim assistant dean for the counselor education and family therapy programs, and chair of the school counseling and addiction studies programs. He also served as core faculty in the counselor education program specializing in school counseling. Before coming to Capella, Dr. Stanley held several positions in P-12 education, including serving as an elementary and secondary school counselor, school counselor, school counseling program specialist and coordinator of secondary intervention and transition services for the Tennessee Department of Education.

Mark Brown, MBA

Mark joined the board in 2018. Mark is a former chief financial officer at Strayer Education, Inc. and former vice chair of the Strayer University Board of Trustees. Before those roles, he was chief financial officer of The Kantar Group, the information and consultancy division of WPP Group, the multi-national communications services company. Prior to that, for nearly 12 years Mark held a variety of management positions at PepsiCo Inc. including director of corporate planning for Pepsi Bottling Group and business unit chief financial officer for Pepsi-Cola International. He began his career as a Certified Public Accountant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Brown holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Duke University and a MBA from Harvard University.

Adrian Butler, DM

Adrian Butler is Chief Technology Officer of Foot Locker. He was formally Chief Informational Officer (CIO) for Casey's General Store's, Inc. A role designed to lead the effort to advance next generation technology at the fourth largest convenience retailer in the US.

Prior to joining Casey’s, Adrian was senior vice president and CIO at DineEquity, Inc. parent company of the IHOP and Applebee’s restaurant chains. In that role, he was responsible for Information Technology (IT) transformation and strategy, innovation, and technology delivery as well as building and enhancing the organization’s digital, mobile, social-media and data capabilities focused on growing the business and enhancing the guest experience.

Walter Chesley, JD

Walter Chesley is the former Chief Human Resources Officer for Hennepin Healthcare System. Before this role, he was Senior Vice President, Human Resources at Agiliti Corporation, a publicly traded medical equipment and device outsourcing company, Chief Administrative Officer at Children’s Hospitals & Clinics Minnesota/Upper Midwest and Vice President, Human Resources with Ceridian Corporation. Prior to these roles, Walter worked for the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation where he held various executive and managerial roles.

Selina Matis, PhD, LCSW, LICSW 

Dr. Selina Matis is core faculty in the School of Public Service and Education; she was appointed faculty trustee to the Board in May 2023.  She joined Capella in 2020 where she teaches in the Master of Social Work program.  

Dawn Mueller, PhD

Dawn Mueller is the Chief Marketing Officer for Vitech, a SaaS company and an adjunct professor of marketing at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She was formerly chief marketing officer for Saphyre and has served in marketing and communications positions with globally renowned companies, including Wolters Kluwer, IBM, and Ernst & Young, and Deloitte.

Diana Rodriguez, MBA

Diana Z. Rodriguez is the 16th chancellor of the San Bernardino Community College District.  Prior to that, she served as president of San Bernardino Valley College and Vice President of Student Services and Vice President of Academic Services at Las Positas College. A native of Southern California, second-generation Mexican-American and first-generation community college student, Diana's background is a close reflection of the social and cultural experiences of a vast majority of the community college students in the region.

Richard Senese, PhD, LP

Capella University Board Chair

Dr. Richard (Dick) Senese is President Emeritus of Capella University and a senior vice president at Strategic Education, Inc. He served as president of Capella University from 2015 - 2023 and Chief Academic Officer from 2015 - 2017. Prior to returning to Capella in 2014, Dr. Senese served in leadership roles with the University of Minnesota Extension for 13 years. He most recently served as the Extension's Senior Associate Dean, where he oversaw research, program evaluation, international partnerships, and faculty development, among other responsibilities. Prior to his promotion to Senior Associate Dean, he served as the founding Associate Dean for the Center for Community Vitality. He has taught at a number of Minnesota-based institutions, including St. Olaf College, Metropolitan State University, and the College of St. Scholastica, and served previously as the Associate Dean for Capella University's Harold Abel School of Psychology.

Linda Singh, PhD

Dr. Linda Singh is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kaleidoscope Affect, LLC which provides leadership and management consulting as well as strategic advisory services for a variety of public and private sector clients. She served as the Inaugural Leader-In-Residence for Towson University focusing on creating the foundation for leadership culture and common leader competencies across the campus and Interim Executive Director and CEO of TEDCO focused on investing and helping to grow early-stage technology and life sciences companies to fuel economic development and growth.

Dwaun Warmack, EdD

Dr. Dwaun J. Warmack serves as the 9th President of Claflin University. He has more than 20 years of progressive administrative experience in higher education, including positions as president of Harris-Stowe State University, senior vice president of administration and student services at Bethune-Cookman University, and associate dean of students at Rhodes College.  He also held administrative positions at Western Carolina University and Delta State University.