Dr. Cara Gillis Joins Mellon Foundation as Program Officer in Higher Learning

A philosopher by training and an educator by vocation, Gillis brings more than 20 years of experience in California’s higher education system, the majority of it spent in expanding access to the humanities within the community college sector. In her new role, she will help shape Mellon’s grantmaking and philanthropic initiatives to strengthen and broaden who has the opportunity to study, teach, and shape the humanities in higher education.

Gillis joins Mellon from Pierce College, where she has taught philosophy since 2009 and served as Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Sociology since 2019. She also served as the Vice President of Academic Policy for the Academic Senate. As chair, Gillis championed collaborative efforts to redesign curriculum, close equity gaps, and expand pathways into the humanities, resulting in measurable gains in student retention and success.

“Cara joins Mellon with deep expertise both as a humanities scholar and as an innovative leader at a range of institutional levels,” said Elizabeth Alexander, Mellon Foundation President. “Her community-oriented perspective and approach to teaching will be invaluable as the Foundation continues to create even more opportunities for all to experience the vital and urgent significance of the humanities today.”

Mellon Higher Learning Program Director Phillip Brian Harper noted that Gillis was appointed from a highly competitive pool comprising a wide swath of the mid-career humanities professoriate. “It is a great benefit to Higher Learning to hire a program officer directly from the ranks of the faculty,” Harper said. “Such appointees come equipped with a keen understanding of the most urgent needs within the academic humanities, and Cara’s particular experience and expertise will help us enhance and refine not only our support of the community college sector, but also our grantmaking in other key areas, such as ethnic studies and environmental justice studies.”

“The Mellon Foundation’s work in expanding access to the humanities and the critical thinking and shared connection that comes with that is something that I have been pursuing for the past 20 years of my career,” said Gillis. “I am very thankful to have been given the chance to participate in this important work and to contribute to the Foundation’s mission in higher education.”

Gillis came to philosophy unexpectedly, having begun her undergraduate studies as a biology major, an experience that shaped her discussion-based teaching style, where confusion is treated as a starting point rather than a barrier. She has extended that approach beyond the classroom, teaching philosophy to K-6 students in Los Angeles and leading ethics discussions at senior living communities.

Gillis holds an MA and PhD in philosophy from University of California, Irvine, an MA in philosophy from California State, Long Beach, and a BA in philosophy from Western University, Canada. Gillis is a two-time recipient of Pierce College's Golden Apple Award (2012, 2019) and the college's Outstanding Teacher Award (2015), both awarded by student vote, as well as its Faculty Leadership Award (2024).