Julie Payne Kirchmeier

President and CEO

Edgefield LLC

Julie A. Payne-Kirchmeier, Ph.D., CEC, CSAEd™ is President and CEO of Edgefield Group, LLC, where she partners with institutions, organizations, executive leaders, and boards to strengthen strategy, organizational alignment, student success, and leadership. Her work focuses on helping organizations design strategy that holds under pressure—and the environments, systems, and structures needed to translate that strategy into better outcomes for today’s learners.

Prior to founding Edgefield Group, Payne-Kirchmeier served as the inaugural Vice President for Student Success for Indiana University, providing systemwide leadership across IU’s campuses. Before joining Indiana University, she spent more than a decade at Northwestern University in
progressively senior leadership roles, culminating in her service as Vice President for Student Affairs. Across her career, her leadership has spanned student affairs, academic affairs, enrollment and student success, organizational strategy, and institutional governance across multiple institution types, with additional roles at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, the University of Southern Indiana, Lamar University, and Texas A&M University–College Station.

A nationally recognized higher education leader, Payne-Kirchmeier has held numerous leadership positions in professional organizations, including serving as Chair of the NASPA Board of Directors. She currently serves on the NASPA Foundation Board. She is a NASPA Pillar of the Profession, an ACUHO-I Parthenon Award recipient, and a 2025–2026 Fellow of the AGB Institute for Leadership & Governance.

Payne-Kirchmeier is an author, educator, consultant, and executive coach and has served as master’s-level higher education faculty at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Northwestern University, and Indiana University-Bloomington. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Administration, and Foundations from Indiana State University, and her M.Ed. in Student Affairs Administration and B.S. in Genetics, both from Texas A&M University–College
Station. She also holds a Graduate Certificate in Philanthropic Fundraising from Indiana University Indianapolis.