The American Council on Education (ACE) announced that Judy Neubrander, dean of Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State University, has been named an ACE Fellow for academic year 2023-24. Neubrander is one of 36 ACE Fellows selected this year.
The ACE Fellows program combines retreats, interactive learning opportunities, visits to campuses and other higher education-related organizations, and placement at another higher education institution to condense years of on-the-job experience and skills development into a single year.
During the placement, Fellows observe and work with the president and other senior officers at their host institutions, attend decision-making meetings, and focus on issues of interest. Fellows also conduct projects of pressing concern for their home institutions and seek to implement their findings upon completion of the fellowship placement.
As part of her Fellowship, Neubrander will spend time at the University of West Florida working with President Martha Saunders, and at Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio working with President Robert Helmer.
“I was thrilled and honored to be named an ACE Fellow,” said Neubrander. “I look forward to working with and learning from Presidents Saunders and Helmer. They are both experienced and dynamic academic leaders. I will also benefit from learning more about higher education leadership at both a public and a private university.”
At the conclusion of the fellowship year, Fellows return to their home institutions with new knowledge and skills that contribute to capacity-building efforts, along with a network of peers across the country and abroad.
“Dr. Neubrander is an excellent candidate for this exciting opportunity,” said Illinois State University Interim President Aondover Tarhule. “Her leadership experience in higher education is already impressive, and this ACE Fellowship allows her to further develop her skills by learning directly from highly experienced institutional leaders.”
Since its inception in 1965, the ACE Fellows Program has strengthened institutions in American higher education by identifying and preparing over 2,500 faculty, staff, and administrators for senior positions in college and university leadership through its distinctive and intensive cohort-based mentorship model. Of the Fellows who have participated to date, more than 80 percent have gone on after their fellowship to serve as chief executive officers, chief academic officers, other cabinet-level positions, and deans.
