Pelema Ellis, Ph.D.

Associate Partner, Higher Education

Pelema Ellis serves as an Associate Partner in the Higher Education Practice. He brings more than 20 years of experience in driving a strategic effort through a variety of roles in higher education. Previously, he served as President at Great Bay Community College, leading a comprehensive reorganization of the college’s leadership structure. Before that, he was the Vice Provost for enrollment and strategic development at the University of Missouri, where he led the development and launch of the university’s first strategic enrollment management committee as well as its first integrated strategic enrollment management plan. Most recently, he was Vice Provost at the University of New Hampshire, where he led efforts to increase net tuition revenue. As a campus thought partner, Pelema has demonstrated success in institutional-wide strategy development and planning to foster innovative, collaborative, and high-achieving environments. Pelema holds a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Michigan’s Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in higher education and a bachelor’s degree in organizational psychology from San Jose State University. He is a noted speaker in the higher education field and has made numerous media appearances regarding the future of higher education.