Trusteeship - March/April 2021 - ABG3

Introduction

HE ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNING BOARDS OF UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES (AGB) is the only national

organization providing university and college presidents, board chairs, and individual board members of
both public and private institutions and institutionally related foundations with the resources they need
to enhance their effectiveness. College and university chief executives and board leaders are responsible for one
of our nation's most valuable and time-honored resources: education. In partnership with their governing boards,
chief executives strengthen their institutions and preserve the ideals of excellent and affordable education for current and future generations.
The hallmark of this unparalleled system of higher
education is autonomy. The work of higher education
governing boards-made up of citizen trustees-has
become the model for much of the nonprofit sector.
Successful board performance is vital to protecting
institutional autonomy and to promoting the rich
and varied traditions of our colleges and universities.
For 100 years, AGB has provided service to boards
and higher education leaders. Since 1921, AGB has
offered programs and resources that provide critical,
informed context for higher education as it confronts
new challenges and opportunities. AGB connects
board members and institutional leaders to one
another to solve problems, advance best practices, and
share the latest thinking in governance. Developing
solutions to the contemporary challenges we face in
higher education governance requires the same commitment and enthusiasm we have demonstrated for
100 years.
In recognition of the 100th anniversary year of
the founding of the association, AGB is releasing this
special publication compiling the history of AGB.
In 2006, AGB re-published three existing histories
of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, which are included in this single
publication. The first is a two-part history prepared
by J.L. Zwingle, AGB's first executive director, and
originally published in two parts in the November/
December 1981 and the January/February 1982 issues

AGB.ORG

of AGB Reports, marking the association's 60th anniversary. The second is an article prepared by Peter
Hartman, then-coordinator of On-Campus Programs
and the Trustee Information Center at AGB, which
originally was published in the January/February 1991
issue of AGB Reports, marking the association's 70th
anniversary. The third is a portion of the 2005 AGB
annual report, the text of which marked the end of the
13-year AGB presidency of Richard T. Ingram. The
material overlaps in a few places that treat the same
time periods, though each adds a different selection of
detail. Aside from some modest adjustments made for
style consistency, however, the three texts are reproduced faithfully.
To honor AGB's 100th anniversary, AGB has added
additional articles to this document including the
following: a special section of the March/April issue
of Trusteeship magazine " AGB Celebrates 100 Years, "
which includes a historical timeline of AGB milestones and a short early history of the organization;
an article that appeared in the November/December
2019 issue of Trusteeship magazine,
" The Dartmouth Decision: Where Trustees Come
from and How We Must Lead " about the monumental
court case that solidified the role of trustees in U.S.
higher education; and two new articles specifically
created for this special 100th anniversary publication:
" The Recent History of AGB: 2006-2021 " and " AGB
Today and Tomorrow. "

March 2021 | AGB: A CENTENNIAL HISTORY 3

http://www.AGB.ORG

Trusteeship - March/April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Trusteeship - March/April 2021