February 5, 2007 (Vol. 5, No. 1)

President Ricardo R. Fernández is New ACE Board Chair

Washington, DC, Feb. 13th, 2007 - President Ricardo R. Fernández has been named the new Board chair of the American Council on Education (ACE). Dr. Fernández assumed his role at ACE's 89th Annual Meeting, which concluded today in Washington, DC. He will serve a one-year term and succeeds Nancy Cantor, chancellor and president of Syracuse University, as Board chair.

Founded in 1918, ACE is the major coordinating body for the nation's higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents and more than 200 related associations nationwide. It seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives.

ACE's membership also elected Andrew K. Benton, president of Pepperdine University as vice chair; and Juan Mestas, chancellor of the University of Michigan-Flint as secretary.

"I look forward to working with the Board, particularly on ACE's two outreach campaigns, Solutions for Our Future and KnowHow2GO, which were launched during Chancellor Cantor's tenure," Dr. Fernández said. "The experience of both new and current Board members will be invaluable in engaging local communities as well as policy makers about the importance of investing in higher education."

Dr. Fernández became president of Lehman College in September 1990 and has served on the boards of other national educational associations, including the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and the American Association of Higher Education. He earned a bachelor's degree in Philosophy and a master's degree in Spanish from Marquette University as well as a master's degree and doctorate in Romance Languages and Literatures from Princeton University. An ACE Fellow in Academic Administration in 1981-82, he attended the Harvard Institute for Educational Management in 1992.

From 1973 until 1990, he was affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he rose to the position of assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of educational policy and community studies.

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