Missouri Department of Higher Education gets new commissioner

August 4, 2016 at 2:29 a.m. | Updated August 4, 2016 at 2:30 a.m.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

In this March 28, 2013 photo, medical resident Stephanie Place examines Maria Cazho at the Erie Family Health Center, in Chicago. As clinics gear up for the expansion of health insurance, they're recruiting young doctors. Since last summer, Place, 28, a primary care resident at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, has received hundreds of emails and phone calls from headhunters, recruiting agencies and health clinics. The heavy recruitment means she'll have no trouble fulfilling her dream of staying in Chicago and working in an underserved area with a largely Hispanic population. She'll also be able to pay off $160,000 in student loans through a federal program aimed at encouraging doctors to work in areas with physician shortages. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Zora Mulligan is Missouri's new Higher Education commissioner, effective Aug. 29.
The state's Coordinating Board for Higher Education (CBHE) announced Mulligan's appointment Wednesday.
She replaces David Russell, who retired Feb. 29.
Deputy Commissioner Leroy Wade has served as interim commissioner since March 1.
The commissioner of higher education leads the Missouri Department of Higher Education, which is the CBHE's administrative arm.
"Zora has wealth of knowledge about Missouri's higher education system," CBHE Chair Brian Fogle said in a news release.
"Her leadership will be vital to our continuing work to increase the percentage of Missourians with a college degree or certificate to meet the state's need for a skilled and knowledgeable workforce."
Mulligan was the department's assistant commissioner, general counsel and legislative liaison from 2007-10.
She then served as the Missouri Community College Association's executive director, from 2010-14.
Most recently, Mulligan has been University of Missouri system's chief of staff.
Originally from West Plains, Mulligan earned bachelor's degrees in political science and psychology from Drury University and her master's degree in education and law degree from the University of Kansas.
She assumes leadership of Missouri's Higher Education department as it begins to implement the CBHE's new, coordinated plan for higher education, known as "Preparing Missourians to Succeed: A Blueprint for Higher Education."
The plan focuses on helping Missouri reach its "big goal" for higher education that 60 percent of working-age adults in the state earn a two- or four-year degree, or a professional certificate, by 2025.

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