Rider's Anne Law Named American Council on Education Fellow

Editor's Note: The following is a news release issued by Rider University.

Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education (ACE), announced last week that Anne Law, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J., has been named an ACE Fellow for the 2013-14 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 and administrators for responsible positions in college and university administration. Fifty Fellows, nominated by the presidents or chancellors of their respective institutions, were selected this year following a rigorous application process.

Margarita Benítez, interim director of ACE’s Emerging Leaders Group and the ACE Fellows Program, noted that most previous Fellows have advanced into major positions in academic administration. Nearly 2,000 higher education leaders have participated in the ACE Fellows Program since its inception, with more than 300 Fellows having served as chief executive officers of colleges or universities and more than 1,300 having served as provosts, vice presidents and deans.

“The 2013-14 class of Fellows is a talented, diverse group,” Benítez said. “The ACE Fellows Program will strengthen their leadership skills, expand their networks and prepare them to tackle the wide array of issues facing the higher education community.”

Anne Law has been the chair of the Department of Psychology at Rider University since 2001. During that time, the department has grown, adding a new M.A. in Applied Psychology program in Applied Behavior Analysis, as well as seven new members to its faculty.

A resident of Phoenixville, Pa., Law was trained as a developmental psychologist and has held grants from the National Institute of Health and the New Jersey Department of Higher Education. She has published one book, Questions of Gender: Perspectives and Paradoxes.

Law’s scholarly work is in the cultural and social context of human development, and has included examinations of young children’s development in child care setting, parental beliefs regarding child care and a current interest in emerging adult development. She is an active participant in faculty development, currently serving as the project mentor for Rider BRIDGE, a project that searches for ways that faculty across the disciplines can help their students develop higher-order thinking in diverse contexts.

Serving continuously on a range of college and university committees, Law has been awarded Rider’s Ziegler-Gee Woman of the Year Award and the Ann Giovanelli Award, presented annually to a faculty member who exhibits Rider’s commitment to adult learners, by the College of Continuing Studies. Law’s ACE Fellowship year will be supported by an award from the Mazzotti Fund for Women’s Leadership at Rider University.

During the fellowship, Law will work with Rider President Mordechai Rozanski and James O’Hara, vice president for Enrollment Management, on projects related to Rozanski’s Innovation Agenda. The Agenda calls for the University to strengthen retention and diversity, sustain academic excellence, and develop new revenue streams. Law has identified a focus on student engagement, a 21st-century education, and innovation as particular areas of interest.

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. Each ACE Fellow will focus on an issue of concern to the Rider University while spending the spring 2014 semester working with a college or university president and other senior officers at a host institution.

ACE Fellows also attend three weeklong 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.