University of South Florida

President Genshaft Elected ACE Board Chair

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 9, 2009) – Judy Genshaft, president of the University of South Florida, has been named chair of the Board of Directors at the American Council on Education (ACE), the nation’s largest association representing accredited colleges and universities.

Genshaft assumed the chair today during ACE’s 91st Annual Meeting taking place in Washington, D.C.  She will serve a one-year term and succeeds Andrew K. Benton, president of Pepperdine University (CA).  Prior to becoming ACE Board chair, Genshaft served as the Board’s vice chair during 2007-08.

ACE’s membership also elected John Sexton, president of New York University, vice chair and Ronald Crutcher, president of Wheaton College (MA), secretary.

Genshaft was named president and chief executive officer of USF in 2000.  Under her leadership, USF has been nationally recognized as a top-tier national research university and is one of Florida’s top research universities with more than $360 million in research contracts and grants.  With campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and Lakeland, USF serves more than 46,000 students and offers more than 210 degree programs on the undergraduate, masters, specialist and doctoral levels, including doctor of medicine.  USF has a $3.2 billion economic impact on the Tampa Bay region and a budget of more than $1.8 billion annually.

Prior to leading USF, Genshaft served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Albany, State University of New York.  She also held various positions during a 16-year tenure at The Ohio State University.

“I believe a great part of rebuilding the American economy depends on higher education – on our ideas, on our research and on our graduates,” Genshaft said.  “The Council is uniquely positioned under the direction of Molly Broad, president of the American Council on Education, and her leadership team to help meet the challenges ahead.  I welcome the opportunity to work with them as chair, amplifying ACE’s voice in the national discussion that will determine the future of higher education in this country.”

Rhea Law, Chair of the Board of Trustees for the University of South Florida stated, “President Genshaft has shown her leadership at the University of South Florida as well as in areas of community and governmental outreach.  She is a tireless advocate of higher education and I believe she will serve ACE and USF well by bringing the goals of higher education to the forefront in these challenging economic times.”

New ACE Vice Chair Sexton has been the president of New York University since 2001.  He also serves as the Benjamin Butler Professor of Law and NYU Law School’s dean emeritus.  He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of both the Association of American University Presidents (where he is a member of the Executive Committee) and the Council on Foreign Relations.  He has served as the chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and chair of the Federal Reserve Systems Council of Chairs.

Sexton holds a B.A. in history, an M.A. in comparative religion, and a Ph.D. in the history of American religion, all from Fordham University.  He received his J.D. from Harvard School of Law.  Before joining NYU’s faculty in 1981, Sexton served as law clerk to Chief Justice Warren Burger of the United States Supreme Court.