More than 1,000 higher education leaders from across the country and abroad last week attended
ACE2023, ACE’s Annual Meeting that took place April 13-15 in Washington, DC.
The meeting featured a diverse group of speakers at the
Women’s Leadership Dinner and other plenaries, including a vitual appearance during the afternoon plenary by Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, who
talked with ACE President Ted Mitchell about the Biden administration’s higher education policy efforts and how he hopes to see campuses move forward after COVID.
The opening plenary featured Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president emeritus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Laura Helmuth, editor-in-chief of
Scientific American, speaking about diversifying the STEM pipeline while also supporting students from all backgrounds.
A range of
concurrent sessions throughout the two days examined topics such as the
release of the 2023 edition of ACE’s
American College President Study and the
initiative to reimagine the
Carnegie Classifications.
Clint Smith (right) with JMU president Jonathan Alger
Clint Smith, staff writer at
The Atlantic and an award-winning author whose works include How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America, wrapped up the meeting at the closing plenary in a conversation with James Madison University President Jonathan Alger.
Smith noted during the session it is essential to teach all students about the decades of public policy decisions that created a landscape of inequality.
You can read more below about the ACE awards presented to individuals and institutions at ACE2023. In addition to the ACE awards, Christina H. Paxson, president of Brown University, received the
2023 TIAA Institute Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence in Higher Education at the meeting, and Shirley Ann Jackson, who recently retired as president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was honored with a Dr. John Hope Franklin Award by
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
The dinner also featured the presentation of the 2023 ACE State Network Leadership award, which went to the ELATES initiative at Drexel University, a national leadership development program designed to promote senior STEM women faculty and faculty allies into effective institutional leadership roles. Boston University’s Mary L. Churchill and Michelle Asha Cooper of Lumina Foundation were the featured speakers at the event.
Lawrence S. Bacow, who steps down in June after serving as Harvard’s 29th president since 2018 and as a member of the Harvard Corporation since 2011, also delivered this year’s Atwell Lecture, focusing on immigration and noting that “we limit immigration at our peril. Why? Because immigration furthers our national interest. And because immigration defines our national identity.” Read his full remarks
here.
The Council of Fellows/Fidelity Investments Mentor Award is bestowed annually to acknowledge the substantial role of mentors in the success of ACE Fellows Program participants. Kim A. Wilcox, a former Fellow himself, has mentored four Fellows.
This award was created to recognize institutions that have responded to higher education challenges in innovative and creative ways and achieved dramatic changes in a relatively brief period. It was presented along with a $10,000 prize April 14 at ACE2023.
Named in honor of Reginald Wilson, senior scholar emeritus at ACE and founding director of ACE’s Office of Minority Concerns, the award is presented annually to an individual who has made outstanding contributions and demonstrated sustained commitment to diversity in higher education.
Amberlin Dupre, an operations manager at a national nonprofit medical society, and Joel Riley, a Marine Corps veteran and project manager in the finance technology industry, are the 2022 ACE/Sophia Learning Students of the Year. Watch the video below to hear their stories. Both Amberlin and Joel received a $1,000 scholarship to help fund their education.