Debra Bragg

Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Endowed Professor Emeritus and founding director of OCCRL

Debra D. Bragg is the director of Community College Research Initiatives at the University of Washington in Seattle and founding director of the Office of Community College Research and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a position she held from 1989 to 2015. In 2013, Dr. Bragg was named a Gutsgell Endowed Professor in recognition of her career-long pursuit of research on the transition of youth and adults to and through postsecondary education, especially community colleges. Her 25-year tenure at UIUC produced over $17 million in external funding from federal and state governments and numerous private foundations. In 2015, Dr. Bragg was named a fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA,) and on November 11, 2016, she was recognized with the Distinguished Career Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). She is also the recipient of the Career Teaching award from the College of Education at the University of Illinois and the Senior Scholar and the Art Cohen and Florence Brawer Distinguished Service awards from the Council for the Study of Community Colleges. Dr. Bragg currently serves as the director of the Community College Research Initiatives group at the University of Washington.