Biography

Kathleen O’Brien is the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Alverno College.  She came to the College in 1976 to design and implement the Business and Management degree program.  She also served on the team that instituted the College’s weekend college program in 1977.  She became Alverno’s academic dean in 1991, serving in that position until 1999 when she was named the Vice President for Academic Affairs.  She also served as the interim president of the College in the 2003-04 academic year.

 

O’Brien has consulted on student assessment with colleges and universities both in the U.S. and abroad.  As an extension of her work on assessment, she directed a team of faculty and staff that developed the Diagnostic Digital Portfolio, software that helps students track their learning progress and that is patented in the U.S. 

 

Her community service includes membership on the boards of the Milwaukee Science Academy, Milwaukee Montessori School and the Girl Scouts of Southeast Wisconsin (GSWISE).  She also is a member of the Rotary Club of Milwaukee and works on a committee that assists middle schools in the urban core.   She and colleagues at Alverno collaborated with the Women’s Fund of Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Women’s Council to co-produce a 2007 Status of Girls in Wisconsin report.  She also serves as on the steering committee for the Milwaukee Girls in Charge Consortium, on the advisory committee for the Wisconsin Alliance for Minority Participation in the Sciences and on the President’s Council on Diversity for the University of Wisconsin System. 

 

She has received the outstanding alumna award from Alverno and in 2008,  the Wisconsin Women in Higher Education presented her with their Outstanding Achievement Award.  In 2009, she was recognized nationally by the Irish Voice newspaper in their inaugural group of Irish 100 Educators.

 

O’Brien is a graduate of Alverno College.  She is a member of the School Sisters of St. Francis, the congregation that sponsors Alverno.  She also holds a M.B.A. (with honors) from Vanderbilt University and a Ph.D. in management from the Graduate School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison.