Tosney Award for Career Service in Higher Education Leadership
American Association of University Administrators
2025
Dr. Khoury engages organizations and encourages them to dream big. His riveting personal story and transformational work inspire people to think about opportunity, education, and equity in new and profound ways. Is your organization wrestling with how to embrace sustainability while delivering value to stakeholders? Dr. Khoury is an experienced change agent, having transformed a declining, environmentally focused educational institution into a nimble and responsive innovation center and national leader in sustainability science-based education. He will inform, energize, and challenge your team to think about these topics in new and fresh ways.
Speaking to the Moment…
Dr. Khoury shares insights and strategies for navigating the most disruptive era in modern history.
Dr. Khoury is a dynamic and experienced keynote speaker who draws on his over 25 years of leadership experience to engage audiences and help them think differently about the role of AI in their organizations, leadership, sustainability, the future of work, and how to reimagine education for the modern learner.
Dr. Khoury is a popular podcast guest, appearing on over 15 different podcasts in recent years. As the President and CEO of Unity Environmental University, he has led one of the most dramatic transformations of a higher education institution in recent memory, and his insights translate to any organization facing major change. He shares actionable strategies on leadership capacity building with AI, organizational transformation, and navigating disruption.
Dr. Khoury is a sought-after panelist at conferences across the country. Since 2021, he has participated in 12 different panels discussing a variety of topics, including Unity Environmental University’s transformation, the future of higher education, and building a diverse workforce.
Since becoming President/CEO of Unity Environmental University Dr. Khoury has presented at over 15 different conferences. He focuses on governance and institutional transformation, technology implementation, budget modeling, and marketing. He is known for his engaging presentations, which receive much acclaim from attendees. In fact, the feedback on his 2023 NACUBO Annual Conference presentation on budget modeling included one attendee saying, “Mind blowing session. I could’ve spent a couple of days in a session like this to get my mind more fully around the changes he described.”
Meet Dr. Melik Peter Khoury
Dr. Melik Peter Khoury is the 11th President and CEO of Unity Environmental University headquartered in New Gloucester, Maine. He is a seasoned executive leader and academic administrator with a passion for innovative, sustainable education.
Speaking Topics
Dr. Khoury’s expertise spans a wide variety of topics. Among the most popular and current are the following:
Artificial Intelligence
AI is transforming how we work, think, and lead. Dr. Khoury shares how he uses it to enhance both his leadership capacity and leverage it as a catalyst for transformation, and how you can apply those same strategies to enhance your organization.
Leadership
Dr. Khoury draws on twenty-five years of higher education leadership to show how authentic leaders act as guardians of their organizations, adapt to individual needs, and harness fear as fuel for bold decision-making and growth.
Sustainability
Traditionally, sustainability is seen as a hindrance to profitability, not a complement to it. Dr. Khoury discusses how this false choice can limit your organization’s potential. He shares powerful actions you can take to integrate environmental and financial strategies to create both a thriving business and a healthier planet.
It is no secret that AI is transforming how we work, think, and lead; however, many of today’s leaders are still uncertain about how they can harness its potential. Dr. Khoury cuts through the noise and shares the real, practical strategies he has learned through his own leadership experience and how you can replicate those strategies within your organization. As a dynamic and engaging speaker with nearly three decades of leadership experience, he provides insights into how you can integrate AI into your leadership toolkit, so you turn technological disruption into a competitive advantage.
Under Dr. Khoury’s leadership, Unity Environmental University has been an early Artificial Intelligence (AI) adopter. As an active user, he demonstrates how AI can expand leadership capacity, streamline operations, and unlock new opportunities. With a dynamic style and real-world experience, Dr. Khoury helps leaders at every level integrate AI effectively, whether guiding a small organization with limited resources or scaling a large institution. He provides a clear, practical roadmap for implementing AI solutions that align with mission, strategy, and budget.
Dr. Khoury speaks on Unity and technology at Education Summit 2025
Too often, leaders try to “act like an owner,” which can be good for their organization’s bottom line, but it misses a key component of leadership: stewardship, which includes guardianship, continuity, and legacy. Dr. Khoury draws on his over twenty-five years of executive experience to bring wisdom and candor to conversations on leadership. He shares how to authentically address the needs of different groups within an organization and how to transform fear of the unknown during times of disruption into a catalyst for growth, resilience, and innovation.
Dr. Khoury is a dynamic leader with nearly 25 years of executive experience. He is known for designing integrated systems that break down institutional silos and align people, resources, and technology to create sustainable institutions that can scale. Having led transformational change across multiple organizations, he shares practical lessons on building resilience, turning bold ideas into measurable impact, and leading with purpose. With passion, energy, and real-world experience, Dr. Khoury inspires audiences to think big, while equipping them with the tools they need to drive lasting change.
Financial sustainability vs. environmental sustainability, is one more important than the other? Do you have to choose? The answer is no. As the leader of the first university to divest its endowment portfolio from fossil fuels, Dr. Khoury has first-hand experience with the financial benefits of being an environmentally sustainable institution. He discusses how, while it may sometimes seem like financial and environmental sustainability are mutually exclusive, they are actually intertwined, and when strategically aligned, they reinforce each other to drive success.
Dr. Khoury is at the forefront of elevating sustainability from a core value to a strategic imperative. As President and CEO of Unity Environmental University, he has reimagined how sustainability science is taught, and how it prepares 21st-century leaders to embed environmental responsibility into organizational design, financial models, and daily decision-making. Blending his expertise in organizational design with his passion for the environment, Dr. Khoury delivers engaging, practical insights on how to integrate sustainable practices that are scalable, affordable, and mission-driven. Whether in education, business, or the nonprofit sector, his message empowers teams to lead with both vision and responsibility.
