Brian E. Mueller
President of Grand Canyon University
In office
July 1, 2008 – present
Preceded byKathleen Player
Personal details
SpousePaula Mueller[1]
Alma materConcordia University
Salary$621,000; total annual compensation $3,161,128 (2013)[2]
Websitegcu.edu

Brian E. Mueller is an American academic and university administrator. He is the current president of Grand Canyon University and CEO of Grand Canyon Education. Mueller has been the President of the university since July 1, 2008, and a director since March 2009.[3] Mueller is also notably the CEO of the for-profit publicly traded Grand Canyon Education Inc that provides services to GCU.[4]

Prior to taking the reins of Grand Canyon University, Mueller was the president and a director of Apollo Education Group, the parent company of the University of Phoenix. Mueller also held executive positions with the University of Phoenix Online including CEO, chief operating officer, and senior vice president. While in a leadership position, enrollment at the University of Phoenix grew from 3,500 to 340,000.[5]

Mueller graduated from Concordia University with a bachelor's degree in secondary education and a master's degree in education.

Personal

Mueller grew up in a middle-class family in Wisconsin with seven siblings.[6]

Mueller married his wife, Paula, who is often by his side at university events such as concerts and basketball games. The couple has four sons; the two older attended Arizona State University and the youngest attended Grand Canyon.[7]

Mueller enjoys golf and has been golfing with his children since they were three.[8]

Grand Canyon University

The university was established in 1949 but was on the brink of closing its doors in 2004 due to millions of dollars of debt. Mueller was hired in 2008 when the university went to the public market for an infusion of capital investment to put towards the West Phoenix campus. Under Mueller's watch, the university's ground campus enrollment has jumped from about 1,000 to over 20,000 as of the fall of 2018. Enrollment in online programs is over 70,000. Mueller's goal for the ground campus is to increase enrollment to 25,000 and continue to expand the campus.[9] In the past three years, GCU men's basketball team has made it to the NCAA March Madness two times. [10]

Mueller finished fourth in the Phoenix Business Journal's 2014 Businessman of the Year voting behind Michael Bidwill (Arizona Cardinals), MaryAnn Guerra (BioAccel), and Bob Parsons (GoDaddy).[11]

Early career

Mueller's first job in higher education was at his alma mater, Concordia University. He was a professor at the university from 1983 to 1987 as well as the university's head men's basketball coach.

Mueller started out as a high school teacher before heading to Arizona State University to enroll in a Ph.D. program. He planned to finish that program and then resume teaching again due to his love for the students, however those plans changed after having several children. When his fourth child was on the way, he chose to join the University of Phoenix as an enrollment counselor in hopes to better support his family financially.[12]

Mueller had heard they were hiring, but knew nothing more of the university. He did not plan on staying long, but after six months he believed they had something big going for them and he no longer wanted to leave. While skeptical at first about the use of internet for delivering education, he was part of the internal meetings that resulted in the University of Phoenix offering its first online courses in 1989. Three years later, he would be put in charge of marketing and enrollment.[13]

Controversies

On December 28, 2023 the Federal Trade Commission announced that it filed suit against Grand Canyon Education, Grand Canyon University, and Brian Mueller (the chief executive officer of both) for deceiving prospective doctoral students about the cost and course requirements of its doctoral programs and about being a nonprofit, while also engaging in deceptive and abusive telemarketing practices."FTC Sues Grand Canyon University for Deceptive Advertising and Illegal Telemarketing". Retrieved December 28, 2023.</ref>

References

  1. ↑ "Profile: Brian Mueller, Grand Canyon University". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Forbes' Brian Mueller Profile". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Grand Canyon University Investor Relations". Grand Canyon University. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  4. ↑ Moody, Josh. "For-Profit University Giant Goes Nonprofit Amid Questions And Concerns". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  5. ↑ "GCU Leadership Team". Grand Canyon University. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  6. ↑ "CEO Series: An Interview with Brian Mueller". My Life Magazine. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  7. ↑ "GCU weighs buying out investors, turning to a nonprofit". AZCentral. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Profile: Brian Mueller, Grand Canyon University". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Grand Canyon University Welcomes Largest Group of Incoming Students in School's History". University Herald. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  10. ↑ Obert, Richard. "Grand Canyon basketball to ramp up recruiting after 2 trips to March Madness in 3 years". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  11. ↑ "Results: Who do you think should be Businessperson of the Year?". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  12. ↑ Desai, Rishi. "Flexible Education is the Future - Brian Mueller, President of Grand Canyon University".
  13. ↑ "Interview: Brian Mueller". PBS. Feb 3, 2010.
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