Dr. Alan Drimmer has deep experience in online education. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer of AIU and President of AIU Online, holding that position since the Fall of 2005. In his role, he manages all aspects of University operations working with a Cabinet group representing Admissions, Financial Aid, Academic Affairs/Faculty, Student Affairs, Career Services, Finance, Institutional Effectiveness, the University Ombudsman and other areas. Earlier, Drimmer served as Chief Academic Officer for both AIU Online and later the Online Education Group of Career Education Corporation.
In 2001, Drimmer established the Learning and Development Roundtable at the Corporate Executive Board. The Learning and Development Roundtable was established as a best practices research organization for the Chief Learning Officers and Senior Training Executives at Fortune 500 corporations. Under Drimmer's leadership, the Roundtable staff developed several major quantitative and qualitative research initiatives on adult learning, professional development, management training and online education, expanding the membership to over 175 large companies based in the US and overseas. He managed staff in Washington DC and London.
Drimmer began his experience in online education at UNext/Cardean University, an online business school established in coordination with Stanford, Columbia, the University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon, and the London School of Economics. Drimmer headed the Academic Affairs area, working with staff to develop policies and hire over 400 faculty to teach a variety of rigorous business programs.
Earlier, Drimmer was a management consultant at the Chicago office of McKinsey and Company where he worked on a variety of strategic consulting projects. He also worked at the United States Treasury Department and the Department of State in international finance roles focused on Europe and the Middle East.
Dr. Drimmer received his B.A., M.A., and Ph. D. from the University of Chicago, an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and was appointed as a Fellow at Harvard University's Olin Institute for Strategic Studies. Drimmer received several awards during his studies including the Olin Fellowship at Chicago and Harvard, and the Gruss Fellowship at Wharton. Finally, he was awarded Harvard College's Derek Bok Teaching Award for distinction in undergraduate instruction.