The Council of Colleges of Artsand Sciences (CCAS) elected Oklahoma State University’s Bret Danilowicz to a three-year term on its Board of Directors. Danilowicz is in his fourth year as College of Arts and Sciences Dean at OSU and is one of only four deans elected to the board.
“Having been an active member of this organization for the last eleven years, I am both honored and delighted to have been elected to serve on the CCAS board,” Danilowicz said. “With a new strategic plan for CCAS adopted just last week, I will enjoy working with my colleagues to turn that plan into actionable steps for the organization.”
The announcement was made at the CCAS annual meeting, held in Washington, D.C., during the first week of November. Nearly 580 deans gathered at the organization’s 50th annual meeting.
The CCAS is a network of deans that works to foster excellence in colleges and schools of arts and sciences by connecting deans with each other, providing professional development, serving as a forum for discussing issues in higher education, and advocating for liberal learning. The information and services provided by CCAS will empower Arts and Sciences deans to be effective leaders, resourceful managers, and eloquent advocates promoting the arts and sciences. The CCAS aims to be recognized by its membership and peer organizations as the premier provider of academic leadership development in the arts and sciences. 
Danilowicz has attended the CCAS annual meeting since 2005 and was appointed as a member of the CCAS Board of Directors for a one-year term in 2014. He was a faculty member of the CCAS Deans and Development Workshop, at which he provided a plenary session and two additional seminars. He co-authored a book chapter in the 2014 CCAS publication “Deans and Development: Making the Case for Supporting the Liberal Arts and Sciences."
At present, he is co-editing a CCAS book with the Executive Director of CCAS Anne-Marie McCartan on “Organizing Academic Colleges”. He has participated as a member of panel sessions at numerous annual meetings and as a case study discussion leader, developed a case study, and has volunteered to be a mentor for new deans. He served on both the Committee on Comprehensive Institutions and the Committee on Research Institutions (CRI), was chair of the CRI in 2013-2014, and now is the Board of Directors liaison to the CRI.
As a faculty member then administrator, Danilowicz has been principle investigator (PI) or co-PI on over $11 million in external grants, including from the National Science Foundation, the European Union and the World Bank. He currently serves as PI on a $1.45 million grant to implement UTeach at Oklahoma State University, providing STEM majors the opportunity to concurrently receive a certification in secondary science teaching along with a baccalaureate degree in science. Danilowicz is a member of the Board of Directors of The DaVinci Institute, Oklahoma’s think-tank for creativity in education. He has served as an external member of an NSF-STEP advisory board and as a consultant on student retention and progression for other universities.