Dr. Jon McNaughtan is an assistant professor at Texas Tech University where his research covers two critical junctures of higher education. First, the role and experience college presidents. In this vein he has studied how presidents are selected and their communication strategies during time of crisis. Second, over the past four years he has assisted in the creation of a unique dataset that tracks over one million community college students through the STEM curriculum and also includes key measures of success. Through this line of work he hopes to answer questions regarding the role of community colleges in the production of STEM professionals and provide insight on how community colleges can better support students in these fields. 

He completed a PhD and MA with a focus on institutional research at the University of Michigan where he worked with world-renowned education and business faculty. He also holds a Masters from Stanford University and a BS from Southern Utah University. Before attending the University of Michigan he served as the President's Fellow at Southern Utah University where he worked on the executive leadership team to transform the university from a regional comprehensive institution to the state designated liberal arts and sciences college. In addition to his role as the fellow, he served as the associate director of the Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics and Public Service where he worked to secure long term funding and establish a new organizational structure for the center that ensured its longevity.