Frederic John Fransen (born 1965) is an American academic. Although he first came to prominence as the author of ''The Supranational Politics of Jean Monnet'', a study of
Monnet's critical contributions to the foundations of the
European Union, Fransen has in more recent years been more widely known as a consultant to—and advocate for—major donors to institutions of
higher education in the United States. Both in his role as a provider of advice to clients (principally through his Indianapolis-based consultancy "Donor Advising, Research, & Educational Services") and in a more public way in his capacity as Executive Director of the non-profit
Center for Excellence in Higher Education, he has to a significant degree raised awareness of the problem that gifts to colleges and universities are at times used in ways that are not in accordance with the intentions of the donors. Fransen also writes and speaks on the need for more general structural reform in higher education. He serves in addition as a
Visitor
A visitor, in English and Welsh law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution, often a charitable institution set up for the perpetual distribution of the founder's alms and bounty, who can interve ...
of
Ralston College, a start-up
liberal arts college
A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capac ...
in
Savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
. He holds a doctorate in
Social Thought from the
University of Chicago and was formerly the Director of Higher Education Programs at
The Philanthropy Roundtable
The Philanthropy Roundtable is a nonprofit organization that advises conservative philanthropists.
History
The Roundtable was founded in 1987 as a project of the now-defunct Institute For Educational Affairs. It was founded as a conservative ...
and a Senior Fellow of the
Liberty Fund.
See also
*
Philanthropy in the United States
*
Higher education in the United States
Higher education in the United States is an optional stage of formal learning following secondary education. Higher education is also referred as post-secondary education, third-stage, third-level, or tertiary education. It covers stages 5 to 8 ...
*
History of the European Union
References
External links
The Center for Excellence in Higher EducationDonor Advising, Research, & Educational ServicesThe Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago''Summa Cum Philanthropy'' by Frederic J. Fransen
Living people
American philanthropists
American nonprofit executives
University of Chicago alumni
1965 births
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