Chris Ashley

Christopher L. Ashley is General Counsel and Secretary of the Research Foundation for the State University of New York, and as such serves as chief legal counsel to the RF, its board of directors, and its committees. Mr. Ashley has more than 20 years of public and private sector legal experience. He has particular expertise in legal issues related to research institutions and university systems, including intellectual property, governance, and contracts.

Mr. Ashley comes to the RF after 14 years with the University of Wisconsin System where he served as senior counsel and most recently, as deputy general counsel. While there, he also taught graduate-level courses in higher education law and privacy law. Before working with the UW System, he was assistant general counsel for the National Science Foundation where he handled a wide portfolio of legal and policy issues in federally sponsored research. Mr. Ashley also worked on legal ethics matters as a staff attorney in the White House Counsel’s office and was in private practice in the labor and employment section of Morgan, Lewis & Brockius in Washington, D.C. for four years.

Mr. Ashley earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Swarthmore College, and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He is admitted to the bar associations of Wisconsin, Maryland, and the District of Columbia bar associations, and is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys.