President
Dr. Badi Foster is an educator. As a strategic planner and administrator he has played leadership roles in the creation, implementation and growth of institutions of higher learning ranging from highly competitive private institutions (Princeton, Harvard and Tufts universities) to strong public universities (Rutgers and the University of Massachusetts/Boston). His experience as an educator and innovator extends to the corporate world and to Federal and State government.
In November 2000, Dr. Foster was named the sixth president of the Phelps Stokes Fund. The Phelps Stokes Fund has been at the center of service to underserved and poor people in America and Africa for over nine decades. It has been a pioneer in promoting equity and unity among diverse ethnic and racial groups while underscoring the core value of education for human development as its primary mission. Dr. Foster’s professional and spiritual life has mirrored those core principles. Prior to becoming President of the Phelps Stokes Fund Dr. Foster served as Director of the Lincoln Filene Center for Citizenship and Public Affairs at Tufts University. The mission of the Center is to increase the will and capacity of individuals and organizations to build healthy communities through active citizenship and public service. During his time at Tufts, Dr, Foster also served as the Lincoln Filene Professor for Citizenship and Public Service and taught classes on leadership and active citizenship.
Before his appointment at Tufts, Dr. Foster was President and Chief Executive Officer of Transport America , a privately owned contract bus service company. Transport America provides student transportation services, transit and shuttle service, and education/training management development and organizational development services through its Transport America Institute.
Prior to joining Transport America , Dr. Foster was the senior Vice President of Human Resources for University Hospitals of Cleveland and University Hospitals Health System, Inc. He served on the Governor’s Human Resource Investment Council for the state of Ohio .
Dr. Foster spent eleven years with Aetna Life & Casualty before joining University Hospitals. At Aetna he founded the Aetna Institute for Corporate Education, which received the national award for best training and development program.
Dr. Foster came to Aetna from Harvard University . In his ten years at Harvard he held several positions, including: Director of Field Experience Program, Graduate School of Education; Chairman, Hispanic Study Group; Assistant Director, Kennedy Institute of Politics; Visiting Professor of African-American Studies; and Lecturer in Education. Prior to Harvard, Foster held positions at Princeton University , Rutgers, and the University of Massachusetts .
Born in Chicago , Dr. Foster spent his adolescent years in Africa . He attended and completed secondary school in Morocco . He earned an undergraduate degree in international relations with an emphasis on Africa from the University of Denver . As a Fulbright Fellow his doctoral research focused on the impact of rapid urbanization in Africa . Dr. Foster has served as consultant to the Ford Foundation for projects centering on higher education in Uganda , Tanzania , Zambia and Tunisia .
Dr. Foster received his Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University and has received many academic honors and served in numerous public service positions. He served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the American Society for Training and Development; member of the National Commission on Skills of the American Workforce, whose report, “America’s Choice” provided the framework for the School to Work Opportunity Act of 1994; member of the U.S. Secretary of Labor’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS); nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the first chairman of the board of the newly created federal agency – the National Institute of Literacy.
He currently serves as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Program of African-American Studies at Princeton University; The Advisory Board of the College of Arts & Letters of Notre Dame; The Board of the Institute for Educational Leadership; the Board of the Ernest Morial Center for Asthma and Respiratory Disease at Louisiana State University; The Regional Technology Strategies Inc; the Board of Public Broadcasting Service; and the Board of the National Civic League.
