Dr. Karen A. Stout has served as president and CEO of Achieving the Dream since 2015. Achieving the Dream is a network of over 300 community colleges working to become profoundly accessible hubs of learning, credentialing and economic mobility that eliminate inequities in educational and workforce outcomes.

Dr. Stout has received national recognition for her achievements and accomplishments in higher education innovation and leadership. In 2022, she was awarded the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Leadership Award and entered the organization’s Hall of Fame. She was named the American Association for Women in Community College’s Woman of the Year in 2017, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education’s Leading Women in 2018, one of Washington Monthly’s 16 most innovative higher education leaders in 2016, to Washingtonian’s 500 most influential people list in 2023, and one of Ed Tech’s 30 higher education IT influencers to follow in 2023. She is the recipient of the Robert Zemsky Medal for Innovation in Higher Education, among many recognitions. Dr. Stout has also earned honorary degrees from Miami Dade College and Montgomery County Community College. In 2023 she was recognized by the Harford County Historical Society as one of 50 most Notable Athletes in the 250-year history of the county.

Dr. Stout currently serves as chair of the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research Advisory Board at North Carolina State University, as co-chair of the University of Maryland Global Campus Doctorate of Management in Community College Policy and Administration Advisory Board, and is a member of the Common App Board of Directors, College Promise National Advisory Board and the Community College Research Center Advisory Board. In 2022, Dr. Stout was nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate to serve a six-year term as a member of the National Council on the Humanities.

Prior to serving as president and CEO at Achieving the Dream, Dr. Stout was president of Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) (PA) from 2001 to 2015, where she led the college through a transformation process to improve student success. Prior to her presidency at Montgomery, Dr. Stout held leadership positions at Camden County College from 1994 to 2001, including vice president/campus executive officer. She started her community college career at her hometown community college, Harford Community College, in the admissions office. Dr. Stout taught for 15 years as an adjunct faculty member at Harford and Camden in marketing and management and later at Montgomery as part of the college’s honors colloquium.

She holds a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Delaware, a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Baltimore and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Delaware. In recognition of her public service contributions, in 2014, the University of Delaware awarded her the prestigious President’s Leadership award.

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Conversations with Owens Community College President Dr. Dione D. Somerville