News Brief - 6/11/10
Native Hoosier to Lead WGU Indiana
Allison Barber Joins Indiana’s Newest University as Chancellor
Indianapolis — Allison Barber has been appointed Chancellor of WGU Indiana, the state's new online, competency-based university established today by Executive Order 10-04. A native Hoosier and graduate of Indiana University, Barber joins the university with more than 20 years of experience in education and public service. She will lead WGU Indiana from its Indianapolis office, which is located at 10 W. Market Street.
"Allison knows the assignment and sees the opportunity: to help thousands of adult Hoosiers get the college degree they have wanted, at a price they can afford, on a schedule they can manage. She is ideal for this job," said Governor Daniels.
Barber is returning to her home state of Indiana after several years of public service in Washington, DC. Most recently, she has operated her own strategic communication firm and is currently serving as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Prior to establishing her own firm, she spent more than seven years at the Pentagon. Her work there included serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Internal Communications and Public Liaison, where she was responsible for community relations programs and all of the online and offline communication to the military worldwide. Before her work at the Department of Defense, Barber served at the American Red Cross.
Barber spent five years working as a teacher at Merrillville Public Schools, where she served as Teachers Association Vice President. She earned a B.S. in Elementary Education from Tennessee Temple University, and an M.S. in Elementary Education from Indiana University. Barber's husband is Notre Dame graduate Linden Barber, an attorney with the Drug Enforcement Administration and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserves.
