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.

 

As part of the fellowship, she will spend a semester with a president or senior administrator at a yet-to-be selected university or college. The fellowship also requires Dr. Harrington to focus on an issue of concern to DSU

 

Dr. Harrington said she will use the fellowship experience to assist the University in its reaccreditation self-study and strategic plan projects. “During my fellowship year, I would like to learn more about the strategic planning process at other universities, as well as how institutions assess and document their progress in meeting accreditation standards,” she said.

 

Melissa Harrington earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Molecular Biology from Purdue University and a PhD in Neuroscience from Stanford University. She joined the faculty at DSU as an assistant professor in biology in fall 2001 after four years as a faculty member at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga.

 

Dr. Harrington was promoted to associate professor in 2005 and has been promoted to the rank of professor effective August 2010. Since coming to DSU, Dr. Harrington has led 17 successful grant partnerships that have brought over $13 million in federal funding to DSU for education, research and outreach efforts. In her role as the chair of the DSU Biology Curriculum Committee, Dr. Harrington was the driving behind the successful development of the Neuroscience Ph.D. program and the Forensic Biology Program.

 

She was nominated for the fellowship by Dr. Harry L. Williams, who submitted her name in his previous capacity as the University’s provost prior to being elevated to the DSU president’s post. 

 

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 seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives.

 

Dr. Sharon A. McDade, director of the ACE Fellows Program, noted that most previous Fellows have advanced into major positions in academic administration. Of the nearly 1,700 participants in the first 45 years of the program, more than 300 have become chief executive officers and more than 1,100 have become provosts, vice presidents, or deans.