Arizona State University welcomes President of American Council on Education Ted Mitchell for Frank Rhodes Lecture Series on Higher Education

Public trust is declining. Longstanding assumptions about the value, cost and purpose of college are being challenged. Students are asking whether institutions were designed with their lives and needs in mind, while colleges and universities face growing pressure to demonstrate their value to society.

On Thursday, November 12, 2026, Ted Mitchell will take on these challenges in the 11th Frank Rhodes Lecture Series (FRLS) Scholar Lecture, “Higher Education: Mortally Wounded or Just Resting?” The lecture will be held from 3-4pm MST in Auditorium 107 of ASU’s Walton Center for Planetary Health, with virtual attendance also available.

Mitchell’s lecture will examine where higher education’s current model is no longer serving students or society, and challenges us to think about what must happen next. He will explore how colleges and universities can move beyond incremental change to rebuild public confidence, expand opportunity, better serve today’s learners, and redefine their role and public purpose for the future.

Few people are better suited to lead this conversation. Mitchell’s career spans university leadership, public policy and national higher education advocacy. He has served as a professor, president of Occidental College, U.S. under-secretary of education, and a leader in K–12 education. Today, as president of the American Council on Education, he works across the higher education sector, government and private industry to help shape policies and practices that serve learners and institutions nationwide.

ASU President Michael M. Crow selected Mitchell to deliver this lecture not only because of his impressive acumen, but because he also reflects the purpose of the Frank Rhodes Lecture Series. The series honors Frank H. T. Rhodes, the visionary former president of Cornell University whose work helped influence President Crow’s model for a New American University. Rhodes believed universities should play an active role in creating the future, as opposed to just simply responding to it after it arrives.

Established at Crow’s direction, the series carries that legacy forward by inviting scholars who are willing to challenge accepted thinking, disrupt outdated models and help redefine higher education’s role in society. Mitchell embodies that mission. He understands higher education from inside its institutions and from the national policy arena, and he has spent his career working to make education more accessible, effective and responsive to those it is meant to serve.

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President Crow will provide a special introduction, followed by Mitchell’s lecture and an interactive Q&A session moderated by Minu Ipe, vice chair and managing director of the University Design Institute. An in-person reception will follow from 4-5:30pm.

Attend in-person.   Attend online