Awards

Distinguished Alumni Service Award - 2023

School of Education Distinguished Alumni Award - 2019

About Karen Schuster Webb

Karen Schuster Webb is a visionary leader of more than 30 years in higher education. In 2018 she was selected as the sixth president of the Union Institute & University System and initiated The Union Institute for Social Justice. Union is a private non-profit university with centers in California, Florida and Ohio; it also serves Jamaica and offers online programs.

Prior to her presidential appointment at Union, Webb served as president of the Antioch University-Midwest Campus. Before Antioch, she was associate provost for community engagement and founded the California School of Education at Alliant International University System, becoming its founding dean. Her previous positions also included leadership at both public and private universities, as well as international consultancies, most recently in Nairobi, Kenya.

Throughout her career, Webb has dedicated herself to the pursuit of equity of access to educational excellence. Recently, she was honored with the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Gestalt Center for Organization and Systems Development, and among her other accolades for leadership and teaching, Webb was named as one of the Top 25 Women in Higher Education and Beyond by Diverse Issues in Higher Education Magazine. In addition, she has been named chair of the American Council on Education’s Women’s Network Executive Council. Moreover, she serves on the Advisory Board of the William V. S. Tubman University Foundation in Harper, Liberia; the Board of Every Child Succeeds in Cincinnati, Ohio; and the Southwestern Ohio Council of Higher Education Board of Trustees.

Webb holds three degrees from IU Bloomington: a B.A. in Spanish, an M.S. in Education and a Ph.D. in English Education: Second Language Studies. Webb is also the proud mother of Ramona Webb of Oakland, California, and Wallace H. Webb, III of Beavercreek, Ohio.