Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy

Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy is the president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), a role she assumed in January 2025. Prior to AACTE, she served for over eight years as dean of the School of Education at American University (DC), where she transformed the school into a stand-alone academic unit and expanded enrollment from 200 to over 1,500 students.

She previously held leadership roles at Johns Hopkins University (MD) as vice provost for faculty affairs and vice dean of academic affairs in the School of Education. Her earlier appointments include faculty positions at the University of Maryland, College Park and Brooklyn College (NY).

Holcomb-McCoy began her career as a kindergarten teacher, later transitioning to roles as a school counselor and family therapist. She holds degrees from the University of Virginia (B.A., M.Ed.) and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Ph.D.).

Holcomb-McCoy is a nationally recognized leader in educator preparation, with a scholarly and advocacy focus on opportunity for all and the full educator pipeline.