Leadership Bios

James Hightower III has more than 25 years’ experience in independent schools and institutions of higher learning. He most recently served as director of college counseling at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia; before that, he was dean of student life and college counseling at Greensboro Day School in Greensboro, North Carolina. James previously held positions at The Lovett School in Atlanta and Phillips Andover Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and worked in admissions at The Johns Hopkins University and The College of Wooster. He also served as director of multicultural retention at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. 

Additionally, James is the co-founder of Hightower Scholars, Inc., a nonprofit that works to promote access to higher education. He holds a bachelor’s degree in African and African American Studies from Penn State.