American Council on Education names Patricia L. Price an ACE Fellow

Patricia L. Price, professor of geography in the Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies at FIU, has been named an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow for academic year 2013-14. She is the first FIU faculty member to be selected for the ACE Fellows Program.

Fifty fellows, nominated by the presidents or chancellors of their institutions, were selected this year following a rigorous application process. Each ACE Fellow will focus on an issue of interest to the nominating institution while spending the next academic year working with a college or university president and other senior officers at a host institution.

“The 2013-14 class of Fellows is a talented, diverse group,” said Margarita Benítez, interim director of ACE’s Emerging Leaders Group and the ACE Fellows Program. “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.”

As an ACE fellow, Price will focus on nurturing a campus culture of integrity at FIU.

“I’m interested in exploring the role of leadership in fostering an ethical campus culture,” said Price, who will study the multi-pronged and complex issue as it relates to students, faculty/staff and other constituents such as boards, donors and accrediting agencies.

Price’s current work concentrates on critical geographies of race, ethnicity, and immigration; Latinos in the United States; borders literal and figurative; and processes of inclusion and exclusion. She is currently researching Cuban exile landscapes in Miami and how nostalgia shapes and connects places. Price has received support for her research from the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Price is also the 2011-2013 Faculty Fellow in the Office of the Provost at FIU, serving in this role as a liaison between the FIU faculty and administration. Additionally, she holds an appointment in FIU’s Division of Research, in the area of human subjects compliance.

“We are so pleased that Dr. Price has been selected for the ACE Fellows Program,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. “We value this unique learning experience and know that she will return to FIU with enhanced skills and perspectives—critical to sustaining and improving our university, and the experience of our valued students.”

FIU Provost Douglas Wartzok said that Dr. Price has been a tremendous asset as a Faculty Fellow in the Office of the Provost for the past two years. “Her selection for this highly competitive program confirms the judgment of faculty and administrative colleagues who have worked with her in this role. The opportunity to gain further experience in academic administration will benefit both Dr. Price and FIU,” added Wartzok.

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. It 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.