Before coming to American University of Afghanistan, Ian Bickford was the first provost of Fulbright University Vietnam where he guided the launch of Vietnam’s first American-style undergraduate program in the liberal arts and sciences. His service to innovation and equity in higher education, in the United States and around the world, includes many years of support for Bard College’s partner programs in Myanmar, where the Parami Institute of Continuing Education and the soon-to-launch Parami University are beacons for educational quality and access in an opening democracy. As an influential leader in the U.S. early college movement, which creates meaningful bridges between high school and college for younger students, Dr. Bickford served as provost and vice president of Bard College at Simon’s Rock; founding dean of Bard Academy at Simon’s Rock; and dean of the Bard Early Colleges. He is a specialist in Early Modern British and transatlantic literature, with an A.A. from Bard College at Simon’s Rock; B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley; M.A. from Stanford University; and Ph.D. from the City University of New York Graduate Center.