ACT Adds Two New Board Members, Names Board Chair

Note to Editors: Photos of the new ACT Board Members and Board Chair are available upon request.

IOWA CITY, Iowa—Two leaders in business and education – Jules W. Muis, retired international accounting executive, and Eduardo Padrón, president of Miami Dade College – have been named to the ACT Board of Directors. Chad Wick, a current member of the board, has been selected by his peers as Board Chair.

New ACT Board Members

Jules W. Muis
Throughout his distinguished international career in accounting, Jules W. Muis has led the development and implementation of a broad range of accounting principles and regulations across both the public and private sectors.

Muis, a Dutch national with dual American citizenship, began his career with Philips Electronics and Time Life. In the 1970s he served as Secretary-General of Union Eur-Audit based in Brussels, and became a partner at Ernst & Young and its predecessor firms, where he had leadership roles in the Netherlands, Africa, and across Europe.

Muis was later named president of the Dutch Institute of Registered Accountants, Vice President and Controller at the World Bank, and Director General and Chief Internal Auditor at the European Commission.

Since formally retiring in 2004, Muis has continued to serve in accounting and auditing leadership roles, including as Chair of the Audit Committee of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), member of the Board of Auditors of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), and as a member of the Audit Committee of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. 

Muis also serves, at the recommendation of the World Bank, on the Public Interest Oversight Board overseeing standard setting for the global audit profession.


Eduardo J. Padrón
Since 1995 Eduardo J. Padrón has served as president of Miami Dade College (MDC), the largest institution of higher education in the United States with more than 165,000 students.

MDC enrolls and graduates more minorities than any other institution in America. Padrón is credited with engineering a culture of success that has produced impressive results in student access, retention, graduation, and overall achievement.

In addition to his MDC leadership duties, Padrón serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Association of University Presidents, and Achieving the Dream, among others. Previously, he served as board chair for the American Council on Education, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and the Business Higher Education Forum.

Since arriving in the United States as a teenage refugee in 1961, Padrón has also been selected to serve on posts of national prominence by five American presidents. Internationally, he has been awarded the Commandeur in the Ordre des Palmes Académiques by France, the Order of San Martin by Argentina, and the Order of Queen Isabella and the Juan Ponce de Leon 500th Anniversary award by Spain.

An economist by training, Padrón earned his Ph.D. from the University of Florida.

New ACT Board Chair

Chad P. Wick
Chad P. Wick’s tenure as ACT Board Chair began September 1, 2017. Wick joined the ACT Board of Directors in 2012, and was named vice chair of the board in 2015.

Prior to joining the ACT Board, Wick founded the KnowledgeWorks Foundation, serving as its president and CEO from 1998 to 2013. The Foundation, headquartered in Cincinnati, seeks to advance economic opportunity in order to prepare students for college, work, and citizenship.

Wick has long worked to achieve equity and respect for diversity inside and outside education. Wick led the development of the Ohio College Access Network, which supports the college aspirations of more than 165,000 students each year, and assists in turning neighborhood schools into community learning centers. Wick, a veteran of the US Air Force, has also served as president and CEO of RISE Learning Solutions, president of Mayerson Company, and CEO of Southern Ohio Bank.

In addition to his ACT board service and leadership, Wick currently serves as University Ambassador for Texas Woman’s University.

About ACT: 
ACT is a mission-driven, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people achieve education and workplace success. Headquartered in Iowa City, Iowa, ACT is trusted as a national leader in college and career readiness, providing high-quality assessments grounded in nearly 60 years of research. ACT offers a uniquely integrated set of solutions designed to provide personalized insights that help individuals succeed from elementary school through career.