We are pleased to have someone with senior academic and operational experience in higher education to assume this role of leadership in this critical time for the University and higher education in general.
Allan Cahoon, PhD, University Professor and Past President, Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC. He became President and Vice-Chancellor of Royal Roads University in 2007 and served in that capacity until December 31, 2018. While on leave in 2019 he was a Visiting International Professor at ITSEM (Monterrey TEC), Mexico, and AVANS University of Applied Sciences, Breda Netherlands. He is currently a University Professor and President at Sofia University, California.
He is currently Past President, the Inter-American Organization of Higher Education (IOHE a Canadian-based organization of over 350 Universities in the Americas). He has established a series of strategic partnerships with leading Chinese state agencies (SAFEA, CYCIE, CEAIE), Maple Leaf Educational System (MLES), Concord College Sino Canadian, and appointed an Adjunct faculty or Visiting Professor at a variety of internationally recognized universities. In 2020 he was appointed Honorary President, Shanghai Lida University.
At Royal Roads University, Dr. Cahoon has served on the Campaign Cabinet of the United Way Victoria, the Advisory Council of the Order of BC, as President of the University Public Sector Employers’ Association (UPSEA), and as a member of the judge’s panel for the Premier’s Innovation and Excellence Awards for BC Public Services – 2015. He is a former member of the Research Universities Council of BC (RUCBC) and of Universities Canada and served as a member of its international Relations Committee. He is a founder of the LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Ed. He has been an advocate for establishing and supporting the Vancouver Island Presidents Post-Secondary Alliance and in establishing and supporting the South Island Prosperity Project (SIPP) and served on the District of Saanich’s Transportation and Environment Advisory Committee.
Dr. Cahoon has served on the editorial boards of four journals, authored or co-authored more than 40 articles, and edited or contributed chapters to numerous books on organizational development. He has presented more than 85 adjudicated conference papers throughout his academic career. He was named an outstanding academic by the Inter-American Organization of Higher Education in and is a successful federal research grant recipient. In May 2015, Maple Leaf Educational Systems awarded him its highest recognition, the Medal of Excellence and Honour.
Dr. Cahoon is an expert on international and cross-cultural negations, leadership, and post-secondary education. He recently provided the keynote presentation to the China Education Association for International Education (CEAIE) on international education and student mobility and Chaired the Institute on the Future of Leadership in the Post-Secondary Sector. In 2020 he was a keynote speaker at an International conference on the future of Higher Education, Post Covid-19, as well as an invited international presenter at a conference for SME service providers on the Changing Nature of Higher Education.
Message from the President:
“Sofia education recognizes that learning is multi-faceted and ranges from social, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, physical, and creative. We are grateful for your choice to learn with us at Sofia and tremendously appreciative for the time and effort that you have taken to arrive here. Good luck on your transformative journey.”
Education:
Experience:
Dr. Carol Lee Humphreys served as Provost, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Accreditation Liaison Officer, Acting Dean, Executive Faculty, and Faculty Senate Chair at Saybrook University (2011-2018). As Provost, she led the successful 2018 WSCUC reaffirmation of accreditation, instituted a writing center, initiated summer sessions, nurtured academic and community partnerships, created a diversity task force, and facilitated the development of 11 new degree programs. As faculty, Dr. Humphreys’ courses included humanistic psychology, therapeutic interventions, ethics, and dissertation research. Dr. Humphreys served as a consultant with clients such as Marin County Health and Human Services and Behavioral Health Recovery Services where she reviewed clinical training programs and led successful APA and CE accreditation processes.
In her early career, Dr. Humphreys was a social worker and child therapist with a focus on working with those who experienced trauma and abuse. In Ohio, she consulted Head Start teachers, offered family therapy in community mental health, was an onsite school counselor, and worked with teens at a juvenile detention center. At Napa State Hospital, Dr. Humphreys provided individual and group therapy, forensic assessment, and psychoeducation to patients diagnosed with severe mental illness found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity.
Dr. Humphreys’ research has resulted in publications and presentations focused on the accreditation process, PTSD, dissociative experiences, humanistic psychotherapy, dreams, sand tray therapy, the Assimilation of Problematic Experiences, human sexuality in forensic settings, and the change process.
Dr. Humphreys began her academic journey at Cypress Community College taking classes part-time at night while working during the day. After transferring to California State University Dominguez Hills, Dr. Humphreys completed dual B.A.s in English and Psychology and an M.A. in Clinical Psychology. She then moved to Ohio to complete a second M.A. and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Miami University.
Dr. Humphreys is a volunteer at heart. She currently serves on two WSCUC accreditation committees. Dr. Humphreys developed and led yearly regional conferences that provided increased opportunities for student research and presentations. During two six-month volunteer stints in Turkey, she collaborated with a local NGO, the Fishek Institute, and provided assessment and short-term therapy to women and children. A long-time Girl Scout Leader, she has been honored as an active volunteer in various youth, school, and community organizations.
Whether serving in academia, the field of mental health, or as a community member, Dr. Humphreys is interested in being an active agent of positive change and a collaborative, responsive leader. She maintains a heartfelt commitment to a way of being that values authenticity, equity, transparency, and community service.
In multiple ways, she believes her education, work, and community experiences afforded her the opportunity to find her best self and then pay it forward. As a result, Dr. Humphreys’ academic mission has consistently been to support faculty, staff, and students as they transform lives, whether their own or others, through opportunities and excellence.
As Vice President Administration and CFO, Chris Nguyen is the senior administrative officer for Sofia University having authority over, all non-academic affairs including the financial, operational, business and investment interests of the University. He is also responsible for coordinating and managing the University’s operating and capital budgets and for safeguarding and optimizing return on the University’s assets. Chris is a member of the Cabinet and works collaboratively with other senior leaders to support the President and the Board of Trustees in advancing the mission of the University.
