The Kaplan Educational Foundation (KEF), which helps disadvantaged minority community college students complete their associate’s degrees and transfer to top U.S. colleges and universities, will present its 2018 Leadership Award to Daniel R. Porterfield, Ph.D., President of Franklin & Marshall College and incoming resident and CEO of the Aspen Institute.

Porterfield will accept the Leadership Award at the Foundation’s Annual Benefit on June 5 in New York City. The Award recognizes his lifelong commitment to inclusivity and diversity, as well as his impact on enhancing academic excellence and promoting student access and success by strengthening resources around the whole student experience. Porterfield has served as president of Franklin & Marshall College since 2011. On June 1, he will become President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, where he will continue his lifelong career of change-leadership.

“We’re proud to honor President Porterfield, whose devotion to increasing access and developing students from diverse backgrounds into leaders mirrors the Foundation’s own values,” said Melissa Mack, Chairman of the Kaplan Educational Foundation and Chief Communications & HR Officer at global educational services company Kaplan, Inc. “His leadership is an example for all of us working to eliminate barriers for our country’s next generation of high achievers and future leaders.”

“I'm tremendously grateful to the Kaplan Educational Foundation for this honor, and thankful for the many people in my life—students, mentors, colleagues, family and friends—who have inspired me and kept burning my passion for expanding educational opportunity for students from every community in every zip code,” President Porterfield said. "To have the opportunity through the years at my alma mater, Georgetown University, at Franklin & Marshall, and in partnership with other great educational leaders and institutions—many of them now joined together in the Bloomberg Philanthropies-supported American Talent Initiative—to help ensure that more students are able to realize the full potential of education to enhance their abilities and create choice-filled futures is already good fortune beyond measure for me. I’m proud to work with so many others, including the Kaplan Educational Foundation, to invest in great young people who are the future of our nation."

KEF is an independent, non-profit charity created in 2006 to help underserved students succeed in earning a college degree from the university of their choice. Its work is principally funded by employees of Kaplan, Inc., the global educational services company and largest subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC). The 2018 Annual Benefit celebrates KEF’s 12th year of removing obstacles to higher education for minority, low-income community college students and serves as the organization’s chief fundraising event. To attend or sponsor the event, please click here.

For over a decade, KEF’s Kaplan Leadership Program has been at the vanguard of helping high-achieving community college students from underrepresented communities successfully transfer to top colleges and universities such as Brown, Stanford, Harvard, Syracuse, Emory, Mount Holyoke, New York University, Morehouse, Amherst, Cornell, and others. Through a combination of generous financial support and wraparound counseling, tutoring and support services, Kaplan Leadership Scholars attain remarkable outcomes: 87% earn an associate’s degree and 92% of them go on to transfer to a four-year college; all KEF alumni are employed in their field of study or are currently enrolled in graduate school.

About the Kaplan Educational Foundation

The Kaplan Educational Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity launched in 2006 with funding from Kaplan, Inc. executives. Its comprehensive program provides financial aid, academic support, leadership skills development, and cultural enrichment for low-income, high-potential, underrepresented community college students seeking to transfer to highly selective four-year schools. For more information, please visit www.kaplanedfoundation.org.