Alexander W. Astin is Allan M. Cartter Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Higher Education, Founding Director of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, and Founding Director of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, the nation's largest and oldest study of college students and faculty. Previously Dr. Astin was Director of Research for both the American Council on Education and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The author of 22 books and some 300 other publications in the field of higher education, Dr, Astin has been a recipient of awards for outstanding research from 13 national associations. In 2010 the Journal of Higher Education identified Dr. Astin as the author most frequently cited by others in the field of higher education. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
