Associate Professor of Music Gail Woldu Named ACE Fellow

The American Council on Education (ACE) has announced that Associate Professor of Music Gail Woldu has been named an ACE Fellow for the 2005-06 academic year.

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 members and administrators for responsible positions in college and university administration. Forty Fellows, nominated by the presidents or chancellors of their institutions, were selected this year in a national competition.

Marlene Ross, Ph.D., director of the ACE Fellows Program, notes that most previous Fellows have advanced into major positions in academic administration. Of the more than 1,450 participants in the first 40 years of the program, more than 250 have become chief executive officers and more than 1,000 have become provosts, vice presidents, or deans. “We’re extremely pleased with the incoming class,” Ross says. “The individuals selected have demonstrated strong leadership ability. The Fellows Program will sharpen and enhance their leadership skills and prepare them to address issues of concern to the higher education community.”

Professor Woldu earned a B.A. from Goucher College and received her M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Yale University. She is the author of numerous articles on Gabriel Fauré, Vincent d’Indy, and schools of music in France between 1870 and 1930. She was awarded a summer stipend from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1998 to support her research on Vincent d’Indy, which includes a book on d’Indy and music in France in the early 20th century. Woldu has also written extensively on popular African American musics, focusing primarily on rap and hip hop culture. “I am absolutely thrilled to receive an ACE Fellowship,” she says. “It's quite an honor, of course, and I am grateful to President Jones for his confidence in nominating me. The Fellowship honors me as well as Trinity.”

Each ACE Fellow will focus on an issue of concern to the nominating institution while spending the next academic year (or semester or other time frame) working with a college or university president and other senior officers at a host institution. Professor Woldu will be included in the highest level of decision making while participating in administrative activities and learning about an issue that will benefit Trinity College. During the program, Fellows will attend three week-long seminars 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 and throughout this century.

“In my Fellowship year, I hope to learn as much as possible about decision-making processes in academic administration through my association with a college president, dean, or provost,” Woldu explains. “President Jones and I (along with the Fellows staff of the American Council of Education) will brainstorm on the most appropriate college or university for me during my Fellowship year. With luck, I will know of my placement by mid-summer.”

Founded in 1918, ACE is the nation’s largest higher education association, 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.

 

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