JONATHAN ALGER

President, James Madison University

Jonathan Alger has served as the president of James Madison University since July 2012. President Alger is a nationally recognized leader and scholar in higher education law and has served on the boards of national organizations such as the American Council on Education, Association of American Colleges & Universities, and Campus Compact. He has worked actively on legal and policy issues related to college athletics for many years.  Since 2018, he has served on the NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee.  From 2014-16, he served on the NCAA Division I Board of Directors (including on working groups related to preparation for life after sport, and legal issues) and on the Presidential Advisory Group. As a member of the board of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), he is the current Governance working group co-chair, and has previously served as board chair (2016-18) and as chair of its most recent commissioner search. He has given presentations on the presidential perspective on college athletics at several NCAA events as well as to the Sports Lawyers Association.

As a lawyer, President Alger has worked extensively on legal issues impacting college sports. As Assistant General Counsel at the University of Michigan and as General Counsel at Rutgers University, he provided legal support and guidance for the athletic departments at those institutions (including in a leadership role with the Rutgers Athletics Review Committee that focused on policy and governance issues). He is a nationally recognized expert on diversity and inclusion in higher education, having previously helped develop national policy on issues under Title IX and Title VI at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. Since 2016, he has served as a presidential mentor for five mentees through the NCAA Pathways Program (focused on women and individuals of color who aspire to leadership positions in college athletics). President Alger began his legal career in the Labor and Employment Section of the international law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he worked with clients such as Major League Baseball. He is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard Law School.