Kim Hunter Reed, Ph.D., was unanimously selected as the ninth Commissioner of Higher Education by the Louisiana Board of Regents in April 2018.
Prior to being named Commissioner, Reed served as executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education. Working with the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, Dr. Reed led efforts to drive increased educational attainment and erase equity gaps as identified in the statewide strategic plan for higher education, Colorado Rises.
Reed has extensive higher education and government experience. She served in President Barack Obama’s administration as deputy undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Education, leading postsecondary diversity and inclusion work, supporting strong student and outcomes-focused policies and aggressive national outreach efforts. She also led the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Before serving in the administration, Reed was a principal at HCM Strategists LLC, a public policy and advocacy consulting firm in Washington, D.C.
A Lake Charles native, Reed chaired Louisiana’s higher education transition team in 2015 and served as the State’s policy director. Reed also served as chief of staff and deputy commissioner for public affairs for the Louisiana Board of Regents and executive vice president of the University of Louisiana System.
She has received numerous honors, including LSU Alumna of the Year, Public Administration Institute; and Mom of the Year, Jack and Jill of America, Baton Rouge Chapter. She has been featured in Daughters of Men, a national publication highlighting outstanding African American women and their fathers.
Reed received a doctorate in public policy from Southern University, a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Louisiana State University.
Reed is a wife, proud volleyball mom and relentless student advocate.
