The Conference of Executive Officers (CEO) is composed of the principal administrators from each of the 79 ACLS member societies. The CEO serves as the primary vehicle for maintaining and enhancing relationships among the societies and between the societies and ACLS. The CEO holds semi-annual meetings to discuss substantive issues in the humanities and interpretive social sciences, as well as practical and organizational aspects of society management. The Executive Committee of the CEO sets the agenda for these meetings. Its chair serves as an ex officio member of the ACLS Board of Directors.

CEO Executive Committee
  • Steven Rathgeb Smith, Chair, American Political Science Association (2024)
  • Steven Boutcher, Law and Society Association (2024)
  • Lynnette Cook, ARONVA (2025)
  • Lisa Fagin Davis, Medieval Academy of America (2023)
  • Ed Liebow, American Anthropological Association (2023)
  • Erin McGuirl, Bibliographical Society of America (2024)
  • Stephanie Rowe, National Council on Public History (2025)

Fall CEO meetings are held in cities of interest as possible convention sites for member societies and are hosted by each city’s convention and visitors bureau. The 2022 fall meeting was in New York City. The location of the 2023 meeting is still to be determined.

Certain fall meetings are designated “retreats.” The program for these meetings allows for focused discussion of topics that are of broad interest in the humanities community and that have significant implications for all of the constituent societies. Participants prepare materials aimed at a comparative understanding of the dynamics, histories, and trajectories of our member societies as they relate to the retreat’s focus.

Spring meetings are held in conjunction with ACLS Annual Meetings. The 2023 CEO Spring meeting will be held on Saturday, April 29, at the Philadelphia Marriott Old City.