Cecilia Orphan

Associate professor of higher education, University of Denver,

Associate professor of higher education, University of Denver

Cecilia Orphan, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Higher Education at the University of Denver and Founding Co-Director for the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges. Dr. Orphan's research agenda explores higher education's purposes in a democratic society, rural higher education, and regional public universities. Dr. Orphan’s research has garnered over $1M in funding. She has provided expert commentary to and her research has been featured by CBS, NPR’s Code Switch, The Chronicle for Higher Education, InsideHigherEd, Open Campus, Politico, and Slate Magazine, among other media outlets. In 2022, she gave a TEDxMileHigh Talk titled “What makes a good college – and why it matters” that has received over 1.3 million views. She is a recipient of the Helen C. Bailey Award that recognizes outstanding graduates of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. Previously, she directed the American Democracy Project, a national civic engagement initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Dr. Orphan holds a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Portland State University.

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