WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mary Croughan, executive director of the Research Grants Program Office within the Office of Research and Graduate Studies at the University of California Office of the President, has been named an ACE Fellow for academic year 2012-13, according to Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education (ACE).

The ACE Fellows Program, established in 1965, is designed to strengthen institutions and leadership in American higher education by identifying and preparing promising senior faculty and administrators for responsible positions in college and university administration. Fifty-seven fellows, nominated by the presidents or chancellors of their institutions, were selected this year following a rigorous application process.

Sharon A. McDade, Ed.D., director of the ACE Fellows Program, noted that most previous fellows have advanced into major positions in academic administration. Of the more than 1,700 participants in the first 47 years of the program, more than 300 have become chief executive officers and more than 1,100 have become provosts, vice presidents or deans.

"We're extremely pleased with the strength of the incoming class," McDade said. "The Fellows Program will sharpen and enhance their leadership skills and their network, and prepare them to address issues of concern to the higher education community."

Croughan is executive director of the Research Grants Program Office (RGPO). The RGPO consists of several grant-giving programs administered by the university for UC or on behalf of the state of California. The grant programs include: the California Breast Cancer Research Program, the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, the California HIV/AIDS Research Program; and the UC Grants programs. She also serves as a professor in residence at the University of California, San Francisco, in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, and in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She was a distinguished epidemiology teacher and researcher in reproductive and perinatal epidemiology, with an emphasis on health outcomes among infertile women and their children, at UCSF from 1987-2010.

Croughan received her bachelor's degree in community health from the University of California, Davis, and her Ph.D. in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. She has served on numerous Academic Senate committees at the campus and systemwide levels, most recently serving as vice chair and chair of the University of California's Academic Senate and faculty representative to the UC Board of Regents from 2007-09.

"I am extremely pleased to have the opportunity to serve as an ACE Fellow," Croughan said. "President Yudof is serving as my mentor, and Vice President Steven Beckwith is providing support for my fellowship activities."

Each ACE Fellow will focus on an issue of concern to the nominating institution while spending the next academic year working with a college or university president and other senior officers at a host institution. Croughan will study how other public research universities have addressed reductions in state funding.

The ACE Fellows Program combines retreats, interactive learning opportunities, campus visits and placement at another higher education institution to condense years of on-the-job experience and skills development into a single semester or year. The fellows are included in the highest level of decision making while participating in administrative activities and learning about an issue to benefit their institutions.

Fellows attend three week-long retreats on higher education issues organized by ACE, read extensively in the field and engage in other activities to enhance their knowledge about the challenges and opportunities confronting higher education today.

Founded in 1918, ACE is the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents, and more than 200 related associations, nationwide. It provides leadership on key higher education issues and influences public policy through advocacy. For more information, please visit www.acenet.edu or follow ACE on Twitter @ACEducation.
ACE contact: Erin Hennessy, (202) 939-9367