Rasmus Lynnerup is a transformative leader with 15 years of experience through management consulting, serving in senior leadership roles in Chicago's public and civic sectors, and most recently having joined Arizona State University, recognized as the nation’s most innovative institution for 8 years running, where he serves as Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Alliances. His career’s mission statement is to apply the best elements of the private sector in service of the public good.
Prior to joining ASU, he was a Principal of the Civic Consulting Alliance and applied his focus on resolving the most important and pressing issues facing the Chicago region. Prior to CCA, he served as Executive Vice Chancellor for the 110,000 students at the City Colleges of Chicago combining the roles as the district’s Chief Academic Officer and inaugural Chief Strategy Officer. His responsibilities included leading Reinvention, the highly successful reform program of one of the nation's largest institutions of higher education.
Earlier in his career he served clients at McKinsey & Company, where he spent a total of 6 years between the Copenhagen Office and later as part of the Firm's North American Operations Practice after earning his MSc in Economics and International Business from Copenhagen Business School in his native Denmark.
Academically, he is focused on improving the current outcomes of the nation’s higher education system. While institutions of higher education are today an integral part of American society through their important roles in knowledge creation, dissemination, and social mobility (Crow and Dabars, 2020; Musto, 2021; Birgeneau and Coleman, 2016; Dennis, 2004; Creusere et al., 2019), they are not collectively meeting increasing societal expectations of providing positive outcomes. Among industrialized countries, the USA has lost its leadership position in international rankings, will continue to drift down the international ladder in coming years, all while providing significantly inequitable results, with learners of color experiencing much worse outcomes than white students (Berg, 2016; OECD, 2022; De Brey et al., 2019). Simply put, he believes that entire systems of higher learning, from institutions to policymakers and accreditors, require change and reform to deliver the required student outcomes.
In addition to working within institutions, Rasmus has also contributed his expertise in facilitation of programs of change in collaboration with Complete College America, the Gates Foundation, and as a facilitator and speaker to administrators and faculty in Virginia, Tennessee, Illinois, and State of Washington.
In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family (including 9-year-old twins) and close friends - while contemplating his next dive trip or motorcycle ride.