Dr. Cynthia D. Shapira

Board Chair

Pittsburgh, PA

Cindy Shapira is a leader in the higher education sector, focused on the role of trustee and other governing boards in increasing student access and affordability, university fiscal health, and meeting economic and workforce needs. She chairs two major Pennsylvania public higher education boards. She is the founding chair of the PA State Board of Higher Education, charged with coordinating the various higher education sectors toward state economic and workforce development goals. Cindy also has served for ten years as chairwoman of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors, during which time the system of public regional comprehensive master’s universities continues to transform itself to achieve financial sustainability and better student success outcomes. Cindy also is Executive Vice Chair of the Brandeis University Board of Trustees.

Cindy is a past member of the board of directors of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) and served on the national Higher Education as a Strategic Asset Commission. She served on the Department of Homeland Security Academic Partnership Council and co-chaired the HSAPC Subcommittee on School and Campus Safety Considering the Conflict in the Middle East. She is a member of the Wellesley College President’s Advisory Council. She is a former trustee of Point Park University and former chair of the Advisory Board of the Pennsylvania Center for Women in Politics at Chatham University.

Cindy recently retired after 15 years of service from the board of the Allegheny County Airport Authority. She is a past chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh board of directors and past vice chair of the Jewish Federations of North America board. Additional past board service includes the Pittsburgh Promise, the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and WQED Pittsburgh. Cindy was the founder and chairwoman of the Southwestern PA United Way’s 21&Able Initiative to address the needs of youth with varying abilities aging out of special education and to promote a right and entrée to work agenda. She was the Honorary Chair of Allegheny County 365, a project to dramatically increase inclusion and access for individuals of varying abilities in Allegheny County.

Cindy was named a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania in 2017, City & State’s 2022 Pennsylvania Fifty Over 50, and City & State’s 2022 Higher Education Power 100. She served on the PA Commission on Women as an appointee of former Governor Tom Corbett.

Cindy holds an Ed.D from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.P.A. from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a B.A. from Wellesley College. She was a management consultant for over twenty years in the education and non-profit sectors with KPMG and then as executive vice president of Pappas Consulting Group, Inc.