Richard Hesel
Founder Emeritus
RICHARD HESEL
Founder Emeritus
Rick Hesel worked in higher education and independent schools for nearly all of his professional life. He began his career as part of a new program launched by President William G. Bowen to professionally train administrators at Princeton University, where he worked in admissions, financial aid, development, and public affairs. He became a consultant to higher education in 1976.
While his work focused on institutional strategy, Rick’s hands-on experience covered a broad array of institutional concerns, including strategic planning; student recruitment and financial aid; capital campaigns, annual giving and planned giving; curriculum development; student life; media, corporate and government relations; facilities planning; alumni and parent relations; and communications. He supervised the first large-scale uses of survey research and pioneered the development of a predictive model that ties tuition and aid setting to student choice.
In higher education, he led projects for the University of Chicago, Yale University, Dartmouth College, Claremont McKenna College, Scripps College, the University of Michigan, Colorado College, Wake Forest University, Providence College and Knox College, among others. His independent school work included Milton Hershey School, Riverdale Country School, Emma Willard School and Boy’s Latin School.
In the international arena, Rick served the University of London, Open University of the United Kingdom and under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright Commission conducted workshops on marketing for presidents and other leaders of universities in the Czech Republic.
Rick conducted seminars on branding and pricing for the American Council on Education’s Fellows Program, which prepares promising faculty for senior leadership positions, and is a frequent guest speaker at higher education national conferences. Internally, Rick led the creation of studentPOLL, the national survey of student opinions on the college search process.
In June 2023, Rick retired from consulting but remains a close advisor to the firm. Rick has been named Founder Emeritus of Art & Science Group to honor his legacy and in recognition of his leadership and significant contributions to the firm and to the higher education and independent school communities.
Education
A.B. Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Leo Simonetta
Chief Methodologist Emeritus
LEO SIMONETTA
Chief Methodologist Emeritus
During his career, Leo Simonetta had over 35 years of research experience and a distinguished track record of overseeing large-scale survey research studies in fields ranging from education and political science to psychology and travel and tourism. His work has been cited in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, CNN, The Associated Press and numerous other media outlets as well as academic journals. While serving as the Director of Analytics and Chief Methodologist at Art & Science Group, Leo was responsible for determining the most rigorous study design and analytical approach for all market research studies conducted by the firm. Leo played a vital role in building the firm’s reputation as the preeminent source for advanced market research and statistical analysis in higher education.
During Leo's 25 years with the firm, he applied his innovative research methods to large-scale studies focused on guiding the branding, pricing, strategic planning, and advancement decision-making for a wide range of institutions, from prestigious public universities such as the University of Virginia and the University of Michigan, to smaller liberal arts colleges such as Hendrix, Grinnell, Hamilton and Reed colleges. He was also instrumental in developing and refining the firm’s predictive research methods that help institutions understand the consequences of different branding ideas, academic initiatives and pricing and aid levels on, for example, students’ actual decisions to apply or enroll at an institution.
Leo’s track record in higher education and other fields made him a recognized leader among research experts. He was a member of the Communications Committee of AAPOR for several years and served on the Transition Committee. Leo's work has been published in over a dozen peer-reviewed journals.
In November 2023, Leo retired from Art & Science Group, and has been named Chief Methodologist Emeritus of Art & Science Group to honor his legacy and in recognition of his leadership and significant contributions to the firm and, ultimately to the higher education community.
Education
B.S. Business, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.S. Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University
Ph.D. Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University. Named Outstanding Social Psychology Graduate Student