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Sharon McDade

Director, Fellows Program
(202) 939-9420
Specialization:  Leadership Development, Leadership Development Evaluation, Academic Administration, College Presidency, Faculty & Administrator Career Development

Sharon A. McDade is the director of ACE’s Fellows Program, the nation’s premier higher education leadership development program. McDade came to ACE in January 2008 from The George Washington University, where she served as director of the Center for Educational Transformation and Leadership, associate professor of higher education, and coordinator of the higher education administration program. Her research, teaching, and consulting have focused on the leadership development of higher education administrators as well as the management of colleges and universities.

McDade has developed leadership programs for and worked with senior administrators of higher education and business, in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to her many recent journal articles and book chapters on leadership and leadership development, she also has produced books, including Developing Administrative Excellence: Creating a Culture of Leadership (Fall 1994, with Phyllis Lewis), Investing in Higher Education: A Handbook of Leadership Development (1991, with Madeleine Green) and Higher Education Leadership: Enhancing Skills through Professional Development Programs (1988, ERIC/ASHE). Her international work has been in association with the Fulbright Commission, the United States Information Agency, the Latin American Scholars Program of American Universities (LASPAU), the Open Society Institute of the Soros Foundations, and the U.S. Freedom Support Act Graduate Fellowship Program.

Previously, McDade was director for Harvard University's Institute for Educational Management which included its affiliated programs of the Management Development Program and the Harvard Seminar for New Presidents. She served on the board of directors of the American Association for Higher Education from 1988-1992. She also was a faculty member at Teachers College, Columbia University.

McDade’s degrees include an Ed.D. in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, an M.F.A. in design and theater technology from Ohio State University and a B.S. from Miami University.