Having completed a B.A. (Cal-Berkeley) and an M.A. and Ph.D. (University of Chicago), Dr. Heeger developed a unique 40 year career in nontraditional higher education, focusing on adult learning, on affordability and access to higher education, and on the use of online technologies by institutions of higher education. As President of the University of Maryland University College (UMUC), he led that institution to be recognized as one of the leading online public universities in the world. He has also focused on new, entrepreneurial initiatives in higher education. Dr. Heeger served as organizing President of the Whitney International University System, a large scale distance learning initiative in Latin America now enrolling more than 100,000 students, and he was President of the American College of Education, an innovative research-based online teacher education institution that works with school districts to provide graduate degrees to teachers. He has also worked extensively in the field of accreditation, including international accreditation, of higher education institutions. Dr. Heeger is an inductee in the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame.