ACE
announced today that Brice W. Harris, chancellor of the California
Community Colleges, will be presented with the ACE Lifetime Achievement
Award at ACE2016, the Council’s 98th Annual Meeting, March 12-15 in San Francisco.
A nationally recognized higher education leader, Harris
has spent his career working to improve student success and access in
American community colleges. He will retire in April after more than
three years leading the California system, which has 2.1 million
students attending 113 colleges.
Harris will receive the award at ACE2016’s Opening Plenary, scheduled
for 5-6 p.m. (PST) on Sunday, March 13. During the same session, he
also will keynote the Robert H. Atwell Plenary, which each year focuses
on a timely higher education topic and was named by the ACE Board of
Directors for the former ACE president who served from 1984-96.
“It is a privilege to give Chancellor Harris the ACE Lifetime
Achievement Award,” said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad. “His body of
work expanding access to postsecondary education has made a profound
impact on the lives of millions of students who have been able to gain
the college degrees and credentials that are so vital to success in
today’s global economy.”
Prior to leading the nation’s largest higher education system, Harris
served 16 years as the chancellor of the Los Rios Community College
District in the Sacramento region. Harris also has been president of
Fresno City College (CA) and a faculty member and vice chancellor in the
Kansas City, MO, community college system.
He is a current member of the ACE Board of Directors, past chair of
the board of the California Community College Chief Executive Officers
and past member of the board of the American Association of Community
Colleges. Harris understands the important connection between community
colleges and the economy and currently serves as a member of the board
of the California Chamber of Commerce.
Harris studied at the Harvard University Institute of Educational
Management, received his doctorate in education at Nova Southeastern
University (FL), his master's in communication from the University of
Arkansas, and his bachelor's in communication from Southwestern Oklahoma
State University.
ACE2016 begins at 5 p.m. (PST) Saturday, March 12, with events that
include an international welcome and networking reception, a reception
for presidents and chancellors and the ACE Women’s Leadership Dinner. It
is the country’s premier higher education event, offering an
environment of open dialogue where hundreds of senior higher education
leaders will network, hear from newsmakers and share ideas for tackling
common issues in practical ways.
Visit the ACE2016 website for additional information and to register. Join the conversation on Twitter at #ACEMeetSF.