Patrick Callan is the founding president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. Established in 1998 by a consortium of national foundations, including Atlantic Philanthropies, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Ford Foundation, the National Center is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. Its purpose is policy research and promotion of public policies to enhance opportunities for high-quality education and training beyond high school. The National Center is best known for its Measuring Up report cards that evaluate, compare and grade state performance in higher education up to and including the baccalaureate degree.

From 1992 through 1997, Pat was executive director of the California Higher Education Policy Center. The California Center was recognized for its tough-minded analyses and for calling public attention to important higher education issues. Prior to leading the California and the National Centers, Pat was vice president of the Education Commission of the States, and served as executive director of the California Postsecondary Education Commission, the Washington State Council for Postsecondary Education, and the Montana Commission on Postsecondary Education.

Pat has been a member of numerous national, regional, and state commissions and has written and spoken extensively on education and public policy. He is the author of many articles and papers on education, educational opportunity, public accountability, financing of higher education, and leadership. Pat is co-editor of Public and Private Financing of Higher Education: Shaping Public Policy for the Future (1997) and co-author of Designing State Higher Education Systems for a New Century (2001), a study of state organization and governance of higher education. In 2001, he collaborated with Gene Maeroff and Michael Usdan on The Learning Connection, New Partnerships Between Schools and Colleges, published by Teachers College Press. He has served as an advisor to blue ribbon commissions, state education and higher education boards, governors' offices, and legislative committees in many states.