UC San Diego American Council on Education Fellow Selected

Michelle Madsen Camacho

Michelle Madsen Camacho has been chosen as a fellow of the American Council on Education (ACE) Fellows Program at UC San Diego for the 2015-16 academic year. The ACE Fellows Program is the nation’s premier higher education leadership development program preparing senior leaders to serve American colleges and universities.

She returns to UC San Diego after 16 years away: she formerly served as a UC Faculty Fellow in Ethnic Studies, and as a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for US Mexican Studies. Her home campus is University of San Diego, where she is Full Professor and former Chair of the Sociology Department. Her PhD is from the University of California, Irvine.

Her current work is funded by the National Science Foundation to examine inequities in higher education, specifically as they relate to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Other current research grants support pathways for veterans in higher education, and a newly-funded NSF program called, “Revolutionizing Engineering Departments.”

Her co-authored books include The Borderlands of Education, Mentoring Faculty of Color, and Beginning a Career in Academia: A Guide for Graduate Students of Color.

Recent awards include: the University Professor Award, “Highest academic honor bestowed university-wide, given in recognition of outstanding scholarly achievements in teaching and research” at USD, 2014; the WEPAN Betty Vetter Award for Research, “For exceptional research committed to understanding the intersectionality of race and gender” 2013; the Wickenden Award “For best research paper in the Journal of Engineering Education”, 2012; the Innovation in Experiential Education Award, USD 2011; and the McNair Mentor of the Year award, USD 2011. Camacho is a former Fulbright scholar to Bolivia.

She is a Vice President-elect of the Pacific Sociological Association, and an appointed consultant to the American Sociological Association’s Departmental Resources Group.

In 2015 she served as a faculty member on the Semester at Sea voyage around the world, operated by the University of Virginia, which included field programs in Japan, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar, India, South Africa, Morocco, and Namibia.

Since 1965, more than 1,800 vice presidents, deans, department chairs, faculty, and other emerging leaders have participated in the ACE Fellows Program.

The ACE Fellows Program helps ensure that higher education’s future leaders are ready to take on real-world challenges and serve the capacity-building needs of their institutions.

Fellows:

• Observe and participate in key meetings and events, and take on special projects and assignments while under the mentorship of a team of experienced campus or system leaders.
• Participate in three multi-day seminars, engage in team-based case studies, visit other campuses, and attend national meetings.
• Develop a network of higher education leaders across the US and abroad.

The ACE Fellows Program enables participants to immerse themselves in the culture, policies, and decision-making processes of another institution.

This unique program condenses years of on-the-job experience and skills development into a single year. As a result, the ACE Fellows Program is the most effective, comprehensive leadership development program in American higher education today. Of more than 1,800 Fellows to date, more than 300 have served as chief executive officers at more than 350 institutions.