Michael Exler has been with the Office of the General Counsel since 2000. With a career spent in both private practice and in the non-profit education and healthcare sector, Michael has a wide range of experience in the business and legal affairs of universities and academic health centers. As Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Drexel University, Michael is responsible for advising the President, the Board of Trustees, faculty, and staff on a variety of matters in support of the University’s mission, goals and objectives. Prior to assuming the role of General Counsel in January 2008, Michael served as Deputy General Counsel and Chief Counsel for Drexel’s College of Medicine. Michael also served as Secretary of the Drexel University College of Medicine Board of Trustees from 2001-2008 and as Secretary of the Drexel University Board of Trustees from 2008-2018.

Prior to joining Drexel, Michael served as Senior Counsel for the Johns Hopkins Health System, where he also served as Board Secretary for four Hopkins-affiliated entities. Prior to that, he served as Associate General Counsel for the Allegheny Health, Education and Research Foundation based in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. His career in higher education followed seven years in the private practice of law with the Pittsburgh law firm of Kabala & Geeseman (now Fox Rothschild). Michael received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Dickinson College (1983) and his Juris Doctorate from Duquesne University School of Law (1987), where he served on the editorial board of the Duquesne Law Review. Michael is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys, the American Health Lawyers Association, and the Philadelphia Bar Association.