Current Position and Past Experience
Matt Bergman, Ph.D. is President and Founder of the Center for Academic Innovation (CAI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping colleges, universities, systems, and organizations expand access and success for adult learners through scalable academic innovation, including credit for prior learning, credit mobility, degree completion, and workforce-aligned pathways. He also serves as Partner Faculty at the University of Louisville.
Dr. Bergman’s teaching, research, and leadership have focused on adult learner persistence, educational access, and innovative pathways to degree attainment. He is the author of Unfinished Business: Compelling Stories of Adult Student Persistence and co-author, with Bridgett Strickler, of Beyond the Degree: Stories of Adult Learner Comebacks and What They Teach Us. Drawing on the experiences of 50 adult learners, Beyond the Degree explores how relationships, belonging, institutional practices, and flexible pathways can shape persistence and completion.
Dr. Bergman is a nationally recognized voice on adult learners, credit for prior learning, degree completion, and higher education innovation. His work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, TIME Magazine, NPR, and Inside Higher Ed. He is also a frequent keynote speaker and works with institutions, state systems, foundations, and national organizations to develop more learner-centered approaches to recognizing learning and connecting education with the workforce.
Programs under Dr. Bergman’s leadership have received national recognition, including the ACHE Distinguished Program Award, the AAACE Curriculum Innovation Award, and the AAACE Malcolm Knowles Award for Adult Education Program of the Year. His teaching and leadership have also been recognized with honors including the ACHE South Outstanding Faculty Award, Metroversity Outstanding Faculty for Adult Learners, University of Louisville Top 4 Faculty Favorite recognition, and the Student Champion Award.
Through his work with the Center for Academic Innovation, Dr. Bergman continues to bring together research, practice, and the lived experiences of learners to help higher education better recognize what students already know, understand the realities they bring with them, and create more accessible pathways to credentials and degrees.
Education, Honors, and Achievements
Programs under Dr. Bergman’s leadership have received national recognition, including the ACHE Distinguished Program Award, the AAACE Curriculum Innovation Award, and the AAACE Malcolm Knowles Award for Adult Education Program of the Year. His teaching and leadership have also been recognized with honors including the ACHE South Outstanding Faculty Award, Metroversity Outstanding Faculty for Adult Learners, University of Louisville Top 4 Faculty Favorite recognition, and the Student Champion Award.
