1. 985 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 100 Alameda, CA 94501 Phone: (510) 748-9001 efax: (510) 748-1477 wascsr@wascsenior.org
Senior College and
University Commission
April 20, 2016
To Whom It May Concern:
Recommendation for Bibiána Hakosova
I wish to offer my highest possible recommendation for Bibiána Hakosova.
I worked closely for five years with Bibiána Hakosova in my capacity as a Vice President for the Western
Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) as Anglo-American University (AAU) in Prague, Czech Republic
pursued American accreditation. WASC is the independent accreditation agency in the Western region of the United
States accrediting institutions offering bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs on behalf of the United States
Department of Education. We accredit such institutions as Stanford University, the University of Southern
California, and all of the University of California campuses including Berkeley. Our agency opened the door for a
few international universities such as Anglo-American to achieve this high level of accreditation.
I have over forty-five years of experience in education including service as a university president and as the
administrator of a national system of independent colleges and universities. In my career, I have worked with many
talented individuals. Bibiána is in the top echelon of all those I have worked with in my long career.
When I first met Bibiána, she was serving as Director of the Office of the President for Anglo-American University.
In that capacity, I watched her impeccable organizational skills and follow through in helping the President achieve
American accreditation. In this task, she worked closely with an academic administrator in organizing a group of
highly independent faculty members into a cohesive unit focused on attaining a very difficult achievement. Her
strong interpersonal relationship skills enabled this work to be accomplished very effectively. In addition, she had to
work with a team of prestigious American university leaders during team visits to AAU. Throughout the process, her
professionalism, attentiveness to details, and warm and friendly personality enabled very successful visits to take
place.
In specific, two occasions especially demonstrated Bibiána’s skills. I worked for two days with the high powered
board of AAU chaired by a former prince who had served as the leader of one of America’s leading international
banks in Switzerland and adjacent countries. I watched in amazement as she organized the retreat and kept the Board
on track. As the Board was carrying out the important task of defining its mission and values, Bibiána was assigned
the task of taking notes in English which is not her native language on a white board in front of a very high powered
group. Not only did she take accurate notes summarizing complex ideas into understandable terms, she captured the
nuance of the ideas at a very high level. These were then provided in written form to the Board for further work.
More than ever, I realized the tremendous depth of her understanding and skills far beyond what would be expected
of a young staff member at the beginning of her career not working in her native language. Not only are her
speaking skills at a very high level, but her writing is superb.
Secondly, AAU also recognized these skills when they appointed her to take the primary responsibility as Deputy
Accreditation Liaison Officer when the Accreditation Liaison Officer, who has a doctorate and many years of higher
education experience, went on family leave to care for her first born child. I wondered if Bibiána would have the
maturity and necessary experience for such a heavy responsibility and was not disappointed. She had to follow
through on the recommendations of the prior accreditation visit in putting committees together and helping write the
reports. Even without all the paper qualifications for such work, she worked at one of the highest levels I have
observed in my eighty visits in the last seven years.
One of the major recommendations dealt with the need for a strategic plan. A professor with expertise helped
oversee the entire process but it was left to Bibiána to put the specific details together. The resulting strategic plan is
so good that I have given it to American institutions as a benchmark “best practice” example of strategic planning.

2. April 20, 2016
Page 2 of 2
985 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 100 Alameda, CA 94501 Phone: (510) 748-9001 efax: (510) 748-1477 wascsr@wascsenior.org
Based on several years of work with Bibiána Hakosova, I offer my highest recommendation and wish I was still an
administrator with responsibilities for hiring. She would be among those I would most want working for a university
or any other corporate or business setting where such skills would be highly valued.
Please feel free to contact me for further information, if needed. My e-mail address is: rosborn@wascsenior.org. My
U.S. phone number is (707) 815-6855.
Sincerely yours,
Richard C. Osborn, Ph.D.
Vice President