Phyllis M. Wise, PhD

Phyllis Wise is a leader in higher education and biomedical researcher. She has served as chief executive officer and chief academic and budgetary officer at pre-eminent research universities. With over thirty years of research funding from the National Institutes of Health, among other funding agencies, Dr. Wise’s research has focused on issues women’s health and how hormones influence learning and memory and protect the brain against neurodegeneration.

As the Chancellor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Provost and Interim President at the University of Washington, she led the development of shared visions and strategic plans that positioned these institutions for future decades. With multi-billion dollar budgets, including research portfolios of over a billion dollars at each of these institutions, Dr. Wise promoted an environment that enabled cutting edge discoveries, collaborative and interdisciplinary scholarship, innovative learning opportunities, and deep engagement with partners around the world.

Dr. Wise has significant corporate and foundation board experience and has served on the NIKE and the First Busey Corporation Boards of Directors. In the non-profit sector, she serves on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Children’s Hospital Colorado, and RAND Health Boards of Directors. She was recognized as a “Woman of Influence” by the Puget Sound Business Journal and has received several awards that recognize her leadership in education including the Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education Leadership Award and the Chang-Lin Tien Educational Leadership Award. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Wise received her bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College and her PhD from the University of Michigan. She holds honorary degrees from Swarthmore College and the University of Birmingham (England).