Dr. Roberto N. (Bert) Ifill has been named to the Simmons Board of Trustees. Ifill is the brother of Gwendolyn “Gwen” Ifill ’77, ‘93HD, who passed away on November 14, 2016, at the age of 61. The Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts, and Humanities at Simmons University is named in her honor.
Ifill has deep experience in higher education, having spent 30 years in a variety of roles, including teacher, administrator, funder and analyst. He taught economics at Yale University, Williams College, and Connecticut College, among several institutions, interspersing those stints with roles as Assistant and Associate Dean of the College, Dean of Freshmen, Assistant to the President, and Interim Dean of Students.
When he was not directly engaged on campus, Ifill pursued his interests in the development of higher education and strategic planning. He was a program officer at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, where his principal assignments were the management of grant programs for liberal arts colleges; the development of research in the economics of higher education; and the establishment of a consortium of independent colleges in the Appalachian region.
He has also had residencies at the Brookings Institution and the American Council on Education, where he performed research on welfare reform and college financing through 529 plans. In addition, Ifill and has served on six governing boards, primarily in the arts community.
Ifill has served on the Ifill College Dean’s Advisory Council since 2019.
“I am delighted to join the Simmons Board of Trustees," says Ifill. "I am so proud of Gwen’s association with Simmons and am honored by the effort and enthusiasm of President Wooten and Dean Norman to uphold Gwen’s legacy so thoughtfully. I look forward to deepening my relationship with the University through this appointment.”