Chancellor Nancy Cantor named chair of the American Council on Education

Chancellor Nancy Cantor named chair of the American Council on EducationFebruary 20, 2006Kevin Morrowkdmorrow@syr.edu

Syracuse University Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor has been elected chair of the Board of Directors of the American Council on Education (ACE)–the major coordinating body for higher education in the United States, with more than 1,800 member institutions.

Cantor assumed the role of chair from M. Lee Pelton, president of Willamette University, at the 88th annual meeting of ACE, held Feb. 12-14 in Los Angeles. The ACE board chair serves a one-year term, followed by one more year in the role of immediate past chair. Cantor just completed one year as vice chair and chair-elect.

“Nancy Cantor brings a wealth of experience to her role as chair of the ACE Board of Directors,” says David Ward, president of ACE. “She has served both public and private universities as a faculty member, administrator and president. She knows firsthand the challenges facing America’s colleges and universities–whether it be issues related to scientific research, federal funding and regulation or racial equity and access to higher education. I look forward to working closely with her on a proactive agenda for higher education over the next year.”

In her capacity as chair, Cantor will work closely with ACE staff and educational colleagues across the country on the ACE-organized Solutions For Our Future multi-year, national public information campaign debuting in March.

“I am especially pleased to be chairing the board during the inaugural year of the Solutions For Our Future campaign, as we celebrate the critical contributions across all sectors of higher education to the public good,” Cantor says.

Solutions For Our Future will demonstrate the value of higher education as one of America’s greatest resources, higher education’s role in shaping innovators and leaders and its importance to shaping the country’s future prosperity, well-being and competitive edge. The campaign will take the form of television and newspaper advertising; interactive Internet offerings; extensive media outreach; and the grassroots efforts of participating colleges and universities reaching out to local civic and business leaders, students, faculty, staff and alumni.

Joining ACE as partners in the Solutions campaign are several other higher education associations, as well as the Educational Testing Service, the College Board, the NCAA, TIAA-CREF, Campus Compact and hundreds of colleges and universities across the country.

Cantor became the 11th chancellor and president of Syracuse University in August 2004. She is also distinguished professor of psychology and women’s studies in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences. Previously, she was the chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Michigan.

She is recognized for her scholarly contributions to the understanding of how individuals perceive and think about their social worlds and pursue personal goals and how they regulate their behavior to adapt to life’s most challenging social environments. She has been an advocate for racial justice and for diversity in higher education and has also lectured and written extensively on liberal education and the creative campus as well as racial justice and diversity in higher education.

Cantor is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. She received an A.B. in 1974 from Sarah Lawrence College and a Ph.D. in psychology in 1978 from Stanford University.