Michael Christakis Elected Chair of NASPA Board

A man in glasses and a black jacket listens, smiling, to a student talking to him at one of many round tables in a room full of students talking and writing.

VP for Student Affairs Michael Christakis meets with students during the 2022 Welcome Week. (Photo by Patrick Dodson)

ALBANY, N.Y. (Feb. 15, 2024) — Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Christakis was elected 2025-2026 chair of the Board of Directors of NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. NASPA is the leading association for the advancement, health and sustainability of the student affairs profession with 13,000 members in all 50 states, 25 countries and eight U.S. territories.

A smiling man in glasses and a blue suit holds a glass, tear-shaped award — Christakis won a NASPA Pillar of the Profession award in 2023.

The NASPA Board Chair position, elected by members, is a three-year term including one year each as Board Chair-Elect and Past Board Chair and the most prestigious role into which a NASPA volunteer leader can be elected. Christakis will begin his term as Board Chair-Elect at the conclusion of the NASPA Annual Business Meeting on March 12, 2024.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to work with Michael in this incredibly important leadership role,” NASPA President Kevin Kruger said. “He has served NASPA over the past two decades in a number of capacities and has built a reputation for integrity and thought leadership that positions him well to advocate for the work of student affairs in addressing student and institutional needs.”

Christakis has served in a variety of positions in Student Affairs since he arrived at UAlbany in 1999, and was named vice president in 2015. In this role he leads a team involved in a broad range of services and programs related to undergraduate recruitment, enrollment, support and retention, student advocacy, campus programing and support for University initiatives. He also teaches undergraduate courses at UAlbany’s Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, where he received his PhD.

Christakis is chair of the executive committee of the Association for Public Land Grant Universities (APLU) Council on Student Affairs and president of the Board of Directors for University Auxiliary Services. He previously served as National President of Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society. His past leadership experience with NASPA includes an earlier term on the Board of Directors as a regional director; service on the NASPA Undergraduate Fellows Board; chair of the Assessment, Evaluation and Research Knowledge Community; and membership on the James E. Scott Academy Board, an advisory board of vice presidents for student affairs.

Christakis was honored as a Pillar of the Profession by the NASPA Foundation in 2023.