David Schejbal

David Schejbal became president of Excelsior University in 2020. He is the fourth president since Excelsior’s founding in 1971. He is a leading voice in adult and nontraditional higher education. Under his leadership, Excelsior focuses on providing a student-centric experience while growing programmatic and experiential opportunities.

Throughout his career, Schejbal’s primary focus has been on making education accessible, affordable, and flexible for all students. He previously served as vice president and chief of digital learning at Marquette University. Prior to joining Marquette, he was dean of continuing education, outreach, and e-learning at the University of Wisconsin-Extension (UWEX), working across all 26 campuses of the system to extend the resources of the university to communities throughout the nation. In this role, Schejbal helped launch the UW Flexible Option, the first system-wide competency-based, self-paced learning option in the country. Before joining UWEX, Schejbal held academic leadership positions at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University. Schejbal earned his BA from Iowa State University and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Connecticut.

Schejbal has received many awards, including the Julius M. Nolte Award for Extraordinary Leadership, which is the highest award given by the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA). His affiliations with industry organizations include serving as a member of the governing board of the Presidents Forum, chair of the Board of Visitors of the Army War College, and the past president of UPCEA. Schejbal is a frequent keynote speaker, and his insights about reinventing higher education have appeared in such publications as Forbes, EvoLLLution, Innovative Higher Education, and Inside Higher Ed.