Experienced educator, innovator and federal policy maker to head American higher education’s major coordinating body
ACE announced today that Ted Mitchell, a former
college president and top federal policy maker, has been named the
Council's 13th president, effective Sept. 1, 2017.
Mitchell will succeed Molly Corbett Broad, former University of North Carolina president, who has led the Council since 2008.
He brings to ACE a wide array of experience and accomplishments from
across the higher education sector, as well as a longstanding focus on
helping more students gain access to a postsecondary education and
complete their degrees. His background includes service as president of a
private liberal arts college, senior administrator at a state
university and trustee of a major research institution.
“Ted Mitchell brings a constellation of skills to the presidency of
the American Council on Education,” said Judy C. Miner, chair of ACE’s
Board of Directors and chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community
College District (CA). “We very much appreciate Molly Corbett Broad’s
leadership over her tenure and are fortunate to have found someone of
Ted’s vision, commitment and in-depth knowledge across the spectrum of
American colleges and universities to lead ACE into its centennial year
and chart a course into the future.”
Mitchell was president of Occidental College (CA) from 1999-2005. He
served as under secretary at the U.S. Department of Education from 2014
until January 2017, reporting to the secretary of education and
overseeing postsecondary education policies and programs.
He also has served as vice chancellor and dean of the School of
Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los
Angeles, and professor and chair of the Department of Education at
Dartmouth College (NH). He is a former member of the Stanford University
(CA) Board of Trustees. After concluding his service at the Department
of Education, Mitchell served as a consultant to ACE in the areas of
education attainment and innovation, and leadership development.
Prior to becoming under secretary of education, Mitchell was chief
executive officer of the NewSchools Venture Fund from 2005-14, which
provides seed capital and counsel to leading education entrepreneurs at
the K-12 level, and served as the president of the California State
Board of Education. Those posts exemplify Mitchell’s commitment to use
innovation across the spectrum of elementary, secondary and
postsecondary education levels and forge K-16 connections to increase
college attainment rates in this country.
“We were looking for a candidate equipped to advance ACE’s historic
mission of leadership, advocacy and expanding access to higher
education,” said Barbara R. Snyder, vice chair and chair-elect of the
ACE Board, chair of the ACE presidential search committee and president
of Case Western Reserve University (OH). “Ted Mitchell’s wide-ranging
background and accomplishments make him uniquely positioned to carry out
that task on behalf of all of this country’s higher education
institutions.”
John J. DeGioia, ACE’s immediate past Board chair, a search committee
member and president of Georgetown University (DC), added that ACE’s
role as convener and collective voice for all colleges and universities
has never been more important.
“Ted Mitchell is the right person at the right time to lead ACE
during what is an extraordinary and challenging time for American higher
education,” DeGioia said.
Mitchell said it is a privilege to take the helm of the Council as it
prepares to celebrate its centennial, and praised the work Broad has
done over the past nine years to ensure that ACE helps its member
institutions see around corners and anticipate both challenges and
opportunities during a tumultuous period for postsecondary education in
the United States.
“I am honored to lead ACE into a new century of focusing on advocacy,
leadership and innovation on behalf of all colleges and universities,”
Mitchell said. “These are demanding times for American higher education,
and I am confident that ACE can continue to help our member
institutions and the entire higher education community best serve our
students while we reach our common aspirations for improving access,
preparing every student to succeed, and celebrating diversity and
opportunity.”
Mitchell received his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees from
Stanford University. He lives in Washington, DC, with his wife,
Christine, and their two children.