Lisa Anderson most recently served as President of the American University in Cairo for five years. Prior to her appointment as President, she was the University's Provost. Dr Anderson is Dean Emerita of the School of International and Public Affairs art Columbia University, where she led from 1997-2007. She held the James T. Shotwell Chair in International Relations in the Political Science Department. 

​​Before Columbia, she taught at Harvard University in the Government and Social Studies departments. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Columbia University, where she earned her PhD in Political Science, Dr Anderson received honorary doctorates from Monmouth University in 2002 and the American University of Paris in 2015. Dr Anderson joined the AKU Board in 2016.