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Molly Corbett Broad Named Twelfth President of ACE

Former President of University of North Carolina Is First Woman to Lead the Organization in its 90-Year History

Washington, DC (Jan. 15, 2008)—Former University of North Carolina (UNC) President Molly Corbett Broad has been named president of the American Council on Education (ACE), the nation’s principal higher education association. Her appointment, effective May 1, 2008, was announced today in Washington following a unanimous vote of the ACE Board of Directors.

Broad, currently a professor in the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will become the twelfth president of ACE and the first woman to lead the organization since its founding in 1918. She succeeds David Ward, who last year announced plans to resign following six years as ACE president. 

“I am delighted to announce the selection of Molly Broad as the new president of ACE,” said Board Chair Ricardo R. Fernández, president of Lehman College, The City University of New York. “She clearly has the passion, intellectual strength, and diverse experience to articulate a policy agenda for all of higher education, from community colleges to research universities. We greatly appreciate the hard work of the search committee, especially its chair [Pepperdine University (CA) President] Andy Benton, who guided the deliberations that resulted in such a fine choice.”

"Molly Broad has been extremely effective in leadership positions at a number of universities—both public and private—and this will serve her well in her coordinating role as president of ACE,” said Pepperdine University President Andrew K. Benton, who also serves as vice chair of the ACE Board of Directors. “I am pleased and honored to have chaired a search committee able to attract someone of her quality and am certain she will be able to move ACE forward in exciting new ways."

Broad said she is eager to join the national policy discussions in Washington as ACE president.

“It has been my great privilege to serve a wide array of America’s institutions of higher education,” Broad said. “Serving the American Council on Education, at this point in my career, is an extraordinary opportunity to draw on all that experience and to help advance these institutions that are both central to our nation’s future and enriching to the students and communities that we serve. It is, indeed, an honor to follow in the footsteps of many great leaders in ACE’s history.”

Ward says Broad has exactly the kind of varied experiences that will serve her well as president of ACE. “I have worked with Molly for many years and she will serve ACE extremely well,” Ward said. “Molly is a seasoned university administrator who has served at two of our nation’s most influential university systems. She understands the issues and complexities of higher education policy at both the state and federal level. She will give higher education the strong, clear voice it will require in the years ahead.”

Broad succeeded C.D. Spangler, Jr., and served as president of the 16-campus University of North Carolina from 1997 to 2006. The oldest public university in America with a budget of $6 billion, UNC enrolls nearly 200,000 students and encompasses all of the state's public institutions that grant baccalaureate degrees, along with affiliated enterprises that advance the mission of the university, including the 11-station UNC Center for Public Television, the UNC Health Care System, the NC Arboretum, and the NC School of Science and Mathematics. As UNC's chief executive officer, Broad was responsible for managing the affairs and executing the policies of the university and representing it to the North Carolina General Assembly, state officials, the federal government, and other key constituencies.

Broad led UNC through a period of unprecedented enrollment growth—due in large part to the success of the university's Focused Growth Initiative, minority enrollment grew at more than double the rate of the overall student body during her tenure, and special state funding allowed for significant academic and operating improvements at the system's historically minority campuses. A staunch advocate for raising North Carolina's college-going rate and keeping UNC campuses accessible and affordable, she championed the creation of a need-based financial aid program for in-state undergraduates, the creation of the College Foundation of North Carolina, and the dramatic expansion of distance-education offerings. Broad also worked to expand collaborations with the state’s community colleges and to focus and align university resources on the needs of the public schools.

In 2000, President Broad helped to spearhead the landslide passage of a $3.1 billion bond issue to finance $2.5 billion in capital construction and renovation on UNC campuses, along with $600 million for the state’s community colleges, leading her to receive the coveted designation of Tar Heel of the Year in 2001. This was the largest bond referendum in the history of American higher education at that time. During her tenure, the university’s annual state operating budget grew by nearly 60 percent, to $2.2 billion, and UNC campuses received more than $3.6 billion in state funding for capital construction, repairs and renovations. Also under her leadership, external funding for research and other sponsored programs nearly doubled, exceeding $1 billion annually for the first time ever.

An economist, Broad held a number of administrative and executive positions at several universities prior to her tenure at UNC, building a formidable reputation and gaining experience and expertise in finance, information technology, government relations, capital planning, leadership development and strategy. At the California State University system, she served as senior vice chancellor for administration and finance from 1992-93, and as executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer from 1993 until her election as UNC president. Earlier in her career, Broad served as the chief executive officer for Arizona's three-campus university system (1985-92) and in a succession of administrative posts at Syracuse University (1971-85), where she was manager in the Office of Budget and Planning, director of Institutional Research, and vice president for Government and Corporate Relations. In 1976, she took a one-year leave of absence to serve as deputy director of the New York State Commission on the Future of Postsecondary Education, a blue-ribbon panel charged with evaluating the organizational structure and financing of the state's two public university systems. She has served as the State Higher Education Executive Officer (SHEEO) in two states—Arizona and North Carolina. 

A native Pennsylvanian and the daughter of two public school teachers, Broad earned a General Motors Scholarship to Syracuse University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a baccalaureate degree in economics from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. She holds a master's degree in the field from The Ohio State University.

Active in an array of professional and civic organizations, Broad has written and spoken widely on strategic planning for higher education, K-16 partnerships, information technology, globalization and biotechnology.  She is past chair of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), past chair of the Internet 2 board of trustees and past president of the International Council for Distance Education. She has served on the boards and executive committees of the Business-Higher Education Forum; Council on Competitiveness; National Association of University System Heads; the Centenary Committee for Fudan University in Shanghai, China; the Micro-electronics Corp of North Carolina; the North Carolina Biotechnology Center; and the North Carolina Economic Development Board. Broad currently holds seats on the boards of RTI International, the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Institute for Defense and Business, PBS (the Public Broadcasting Service) and Internet 2. She also serves on the Parsons Corporation board of directors.

Broad and her husband, Robert W. Broad, have two married sons.

The search for the ACE president was supported by a team of search consultants from Witt/Kieffer, led by Jean Dowdall.

Founded in 1918, ACE is the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents, and more than 200 related associations, nationwide. It seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives.

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NOTE TO EDITORS, REPORTERS: A conference call to introduce ACE President-Elect Molly Broad will be held at 2:00 p.m., EST, today, Jan. 15.  For access information, contact the ACE Office of Public Affairs at (202) 939-9365 or e-mail tim_mcdonough@ace.nche.edu

NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A high-resolution image of Molly Broad is available on the ACE web site.