Jenna Robinson ’05 (M.A.) ’12 (Ph.D.)
Jenna Robinson has dedicated her career to higher education reform, and she is currently president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. Under her leadership, the Martin Center has advanced dialogue centered on excellence and accountability, publishing influential research, model legislation and commentary that have shaped higher education policy at the state and national levels.
Before leading the Martin Center, Robinson served as the organization’s director of outreach and as campus outreach coordinator. She previously worked at the John Locke Foundation. She has taught courses in American government at several local colleges and universities. Her writing has appeared in local and national outlets, including Forbes, The Hill and National Review Online.
Robinson serves on the board of the UNC Alumni Free Speech Alliance, the steering committee of the Bastiat Society of Raleigh, and as a member of the Board of Visitors at UNC-Chapel Hill. She has previously served as a member of the North Carolina Longitudinal Data System Board, the North Carolina Advisory Committee for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and the Classical Liberals in the Carolinas.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University, Robinson went on to earn master’s and doctoral degrees in political science from Carolina. She is also a graduate of the Koch Associate Program and the North Carolina Leadership Forum. She has been named to Business North Carolina’s “Power List” every year since 2021.
