Bruce N. Chaloux
Hall of Fame Class of 2013
Bruce N. Chaloux was Executive Director and CEO of the Sloan Consortium, leading the international organization dedicated to expanding online learning for adult and continuing education. He and his staff made great contributions to the American Council on Education, including the publication of a referred journal, 100 online professional development programs annually, and three high attendance international conferences.
He served as the second President of the Sloan-C Board of Directors and also served for 14 years as Director of Student Access Programs and Services at the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). He oversaw SREB's 16-state Electronic Campus, the South's "electronic marketplace/free trade zone" for distance learning courses, programs, and services, including more than 50,000 credit courses and 2,000 degree programs from 300 colleges and universities. His SREB Distance Learning Policy Laboratory continues to make a major impact. He was also a significant figure in the eArmyU national advisory board for U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq. He secured two grants totaling $2.4 million from the Lumina Foundation for a campaign that assisted five million working adults obtain a GED or equivalency and 20 million more to work toward college degrees. His effort in Sloan Semester, an initiative to serve learners impacted by Hurricane Katrina in 2007, demonstrated the potential of online learning and is a highlight of his career.
Dr. Chaloux served at Virginia Tech for 13 years, four years as Associate Dean for Extended Campus programs on Blacksburg campus and nine years as Director of Tech's Northern Virginia Adult Learning/Graduate Center in Washington, D.C., which served 2,000 adult learners annually.
He published regularly since the mid-1970s on topics related to policy and adult continuing and distance education. As a practitioner, he served as an administrator of adult and continuing education programs, working with program design, development, and implementation of policy, regulations, accreditation standards, and assessment criteria to assure quality access to adult learning opportunities. He testified before state legislatures and served as a member of state, regional, and national committees charged with developing policies and programs. Sound policy development accompanied with implementation mechanisms are two interwoven threads explaining the impact he had on organizations in a variety of educational, governmental, and technological settings. His work was guided by fairness with concern for how policy decisions impact individuals, families, communities, and diverse populations.
Dr. Chaloux was a leader in policy related to "anytime, anyplace" ACE. He was goal driven and facilitated agreements in educational settings working toward outcomes that served the interests of diverse adult learners in various locations. He advocated for affordable access to quality educational opportunities that were flexible and in tune with working adults. He was known for policy achievements developed with legislators, regulators, accrediting agencies, public and private sector organizations, and businesses.
He was highly respected as an open-minded problem solver. His policy work on state authorization and reciprocity agreements designed to open access and eliminate barriers at state and national borders is his legacy to adult and lifelong learning.