Dr. Kim Hunter Reed is Louisiana’s commissioner of higher education. She is currently the only woman in the country to have served as a state higher education leader in multiple states. Reed is a proven advocate for students who has worked effectively at campus, state, and federal levaels. In 2023, she successfully led efforts to secure additional state funding of more than $180 million, the most significant strategic investment in Louisiana higher education to date.
Along with the Louisiana Board of Regents, Reed leads the state’s talent development efforts, focused on increasing educational attainment, erasing achievement gaps, and increasing prosperity. In support of that vision, Louisiana’s institutions are focused on strengthening the state’s education-to-employment pipeline, accelerating student success, reskilling and training those seeking new career opportunities, finding solutions through research and discovery, and contributing significantly to the state’s post-pandemic economic recovery.
In April 2023, Reed was named co-chair of the national Higher Education Climate Action Task Force, which is part of the Aspen Institute’s This is Planet Ed initiative. In January 2023, Reed was named as one of the nation’s Top 10 Black higher education leaders by Forbes. She was recognized nationally as the 2020 Exceptional Leader by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO).
Previously, Reed served in the Obama administration as deputy undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Education and led the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Collectively, Reed has served four governors in various senior leadership roles.
Reed holds a PhD in public policy from Southern University and A&M College, as well as a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Louisiana State University.