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Robert Hemenway Receives 2009 ACE Council of Fellows/Fidelity Investments Mentor's Award

Feb. 8, 2009

Robert E. Hemenway (left) with John Begley, executive vice president of Fidelity Investments.

The Council of Fellow’s/Fidelity Investments Mentor’s Award is presented annually to acknowledge the enormous role of mentors in the success of ACE Fellows Program participants. Established in 1965, the ACE Fellows Program is designed to strengthen institutions and leadership in American higher education by identifying and preparing faculty and staff members for senior positions in college and university administration. More than 1,500 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.

“Developing the leadership potential of participants in the Fellows Program would be impossible without the mentorship and support offered by people like Chancellor Hemenway. We are deeply indebted to him—and to the hundreds of presidents and senior officers of colleges and universities who serve as mentors and nominators for Fellows,” said Sharon A. McDade, director, ACE Fellows Program.

Fidelity Investments has pledged $30,000 to support the Mentor’s Award and the Fellows Program over a three-year period, until 2010. Annual contributions of $10,000 will enable the Council of Fellows to provide support for the discretionary fund of the Mentor’s Award winner’s institution, as well as the Fellows Fund for the Future, which provides stipends to those institutions which are unable to afford the cost of sponsoring a Fellow.

"Fidelity Investments is once again pleased to support the ACE Fellows Mentor's Award," said John Begley, executive vice president of Fidelity Investments. "We are proud to be part of the building of America's future leaders in higher education."

Hemenway was recognized for his service as a role model for nine ACE Fellows since 1991. In addition, he has nominated two emerging leaders to participate in the Fellows Program.

As the 16th chancellor of the University of Kansas, Hemenway is the chief executive of the University of Kansas. He previously served as chancellor of the Lexington campus of the University of Kentucky, and the dean of arts and sciences at the University of Oklahoma. He has also served on the faculties of the University of Kentucky and the University of Wyoming. Hemenway announced at the end of last year that he will step down as chancellor in June after 14 years in the position.

Hemenway received his bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and his doctorate in English from Kent State University (OH).

Chancellor Hemenway is currently vice chair of the executive committee of the Association of American Universities, an organization representing the nation’s most prestigious research universities. He has also served on the board of directors for the American Council on Education, the National Association of State and Land-Grant Colleges, and the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, which he chaired from 2002-05.

To be eligible for the Council of Fellows/Fidelity Investments Mentor’s Award, a nominee must have been a president or chancellor of an ACE member institution and have mentored four or more ACE Fellows. Selection is based on a range of factors, including a commitment to leadership development with evidence that the nominee worked to enhance the diversity and capacity of higher education leaders through mentoring.

Robert Glidden, president emeritus of Ohio University, received the 2008 Council of Fellows/Fidelity Investments Mentor’s Award, now in its second year.