Biography

Dr. Stewart was named President of the Council of Graduate Schools in 2000. Under her leadership, the Council launched a series of projects designed to strengthen the capacity of member universities to prepare graduate students to meet the challenges of the 21st century. She has chaired or served on many committees concerned with graduate education and research in several national organizations including the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, the Graduate Record Examination Board, the Oak Ridge Associated Universities, the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, and the Policy Council of the Test of English As a Foreign Language. Stewart has also been a member of advisory committees of the National Research Council and the National Science Foundation and has served as a trustee of the Educational Testing Service and of the Triangle University Center for Advanced Studies. In 1993 she chaired the Board of Directors for the Council of Graduate Schools. In November 2007, Stewart's leadership in graduate education was recognized by the Université Pierre et Marie Curie — Sorbonne Universités with an honorary doctorate. Her alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, honored her in October 2008 with the Distinguished Alumna Award.

Dr. Stewart received her PhD in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her master's degree in government from the University of Maryland and her B.A. from Marquette University where she majored in philosophy and political science.