Robert Maxson, Sierra Nevada College's Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Robert Maxson as president of the college in December 2007. Dr. Maxson was formerly senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Houston. He became president of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in 1984, a position he held for ten years. Dr. Maxson served as president of California State Long Beach from June 1994 to January 2006 and has been Special Assistant to the Chancellor of the California State University System for the past two years. Maxson earned his bachelor's degree in education and psychology in 1958 from the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He went on to receive a master's degree in education administration from Florida Atlantic University in 1967 and a doctorate in educational leadership from Mississippi State University in 1970. Dr. Maxson has written two college textbooks which together have been adopted in approximately 100 universities. He is married to Dr. Sylvia Parrish Maxson. Their son, Todd, is a pediatric surgeon in Austin, and their daughter, Kimberly, is a lawyer in Las Vegas.
Executive Vice President and Provost
Lynn Gillette - Dr. Gillette was appointed as provost in May 2008, after serving as chair of the Business department since August 2007. Gillette has a wealth of experience, having served for fifteen years in higher education administration, most including his role as Vice President for Business, Administration and Compliance, and Professor of Business, at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. Among his many administrative roles, Gillette has served as a dean of a College of Business, as an Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, and as a Vice President responsible for institutional effectiveness and compliance with regional accreditation (he’s served on ten SACS visiting teams— the Commission on Colleges’ Southern Association of Colleges and Schools). Gillette has worked extensively with faculty at a variety of academic institutions in curriculum and program development, student and faculty recruitment, and faculty development. He also leads in the areas of institutional assessment and effectiveness, taking Spalding University from having virtually no assessment to its present position wherein assessment is now present in each academic program and each administrative unit. Gillette received his doctoral in economics at Texas A & M University and completed the management development program at Harvard University. He has published extensively in his field, as well as having authored numerous book and journal reviews. He is an enthusiastic proponent of study abroad and has traveled to France, Bulgaria, and Turkey to establish study-abroad programs, and has taken undergraduate and graduate students abroad to areas as far-flung as London, Santiago, Edinburgh, Mexico City, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur.
Vice President for Development
Madylon Meiling - Dr. Meiling was appointed as Vice President for Development in January 2009. Meiling’s roots at the college run deep. From 2003 to 2006, she served as a professor and director of entrepreneurial strategies in the Department of Business, and then in 2006 she stepped in as the department chair. After leaving the college, she was appointed treasurer of the Sierra Nevada College Foundation Board, serving from 2007 to 2008. Dr. Meiling has more than fifteen years of experience as a corporate consultant and executive coach, specializing in leadership development, team learning, emotional intelligence, organizational culture and change initiatives with Fortune 100 Companies. Additionally, she has two decades of experience in the field of education, including teaching, administration, facilitation, entrepreneurial ventures, curriculum development and research. She and husband Dean Meiling are well-known for their generous philanthropic work in the community, and Madylon has established herself as a great champion of the college.
Dean of Faculty
Dan O'Bryan - A Nevada native born in Reno, O'Bryan earned his B.A. at the University of Nevada, Reno; his M.A. at the University of California, Berkeley; and his Ph.D. at the University of Washington. He taught at Old College in Reno, Nevada before coming to Sierra Nevada College in 1992. Currently, he teaches history, philosophy and religion and became the Dean of Faculty at the beginning of the Fall Term, 2006.
Sierra Nevada College makes private college affordable by providing generous need based grants to students who file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
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