Judy C. Miner, Chancellor of Foothill-De Anza Community College District, Elected ACE Board Chair
March 13, 2017

​Barbara R. Snyder, president of Case Western Reserve University, elected vice chair

Judy C. Miner, Chancellor, Foothill-De Anza Community College District (CA), has been elected chair of the Board of Directors of ACE, the major coordinating body for the nation’s colleges and universities.

Miner became board chair during ACE2017, ACE's 99th Annual Meeting, in Washington, DC. She succeeds John J. DeGioia, president of Georgetown University (DC), and will serve for one year. Before assuming the role of ACE Board chair, Miner served as vice chair.

ACE's membership also elected Barbara R. Snyder, president of Case Western Reserve University (OH), vice chair; and R. Barbara Gitenstein, president of The College of New Jersey, secretary.

“The American Council on Education is an organization whose historic mission of leadership, advocacy and expanding access to higher education mirrors my own deep commitment to student equity, educational excellence and leadership in innovation,” Miner said. “I am profoundly appreciative of the opportunity to serve as chair of ACE as it heads into its centennial year, and I look forward to working closely with my colleagues across the higher education community on the key issues of this moment, from access and affordability to expanding the pipeline of higher education leadership.”

Miner brings many years of service in community colleges to her role as the seventh chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, and is dedicated to closing the opportunity and achievement gaps among all student populations.

For more than 50 years, Foothill-De Anza has demonstrated excellence and innovation in academic programs and student services. As one of the largest community college districts in the United States, Foothill-De Anza provides credit classes for about 62,000 students a year.

Previously, as president of Foothill College from 2007-15, Miner led a campus-wide student equity agenda that resulted in increased achievement by historically underrepresented students.

Under Miner’s leadership, the college also successfully pursued grants, donations and other revenue, resulting in more than $6 million in supplemental funding for campus programs and services. She formed strong partnerships with the business community, civic groups and other educational organizations for the benefit of students.

Miner was an administrator at De Anza College for 19 years before assuming the Foothill College presidency. Prior to joining Foothill-De Anza, she worked in the California Community Colleges chancellor's office.

Snyder has been president of Case Western Reserve since 2007. Since her arrival, she has encouraged interdisciplinary excellence, catalyzed institutional collaboration and reinvigorated alumni engagement and fundraising.

During her tenure, the university has tripled the number of undergraduate applications, become twice as selective and dramatically improved the academic credentials of the entering class.

Case Western Reserve reached the $1 billion goal of Forward Thinking, the university’s capital campaign, two and a half years ahead of schedule. The Board of Trustees unanimously agreed to expand the campaign, whose highlights include dramatic increases in the number of endowed professorships and student support, to $1.5 billion.

Snyder began her academic career as an assistant professor at Case Western Reserve’s School of Law, then joined the faculty of the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University (OSU). After serving in several leadership positions at Moritz and within the central university, Snyder became OSU’s interim executive vice president and provost in 2003 before securing the permanent position the following year.

Also elected to the ACE Board of Directors during the business meeting were:

Term Ending March 2020

  • Andrew D. Hamilton, president, New York University

  • Maria Harper-Marinick, chancellor, Maricopa Community College District (AZ)

  • John C. Hitt, president, University of Central Florida

  • Paul J. LeBlanc, president, Southern New Hampshire University

  • Javier Miyares, president, University of Maryland University College

  • J. Keith Motley, chancellor, University of Massachusetts Boston

  • Carol Quillen, president, Davidson College (NC)

Two-Year Term Ending in March 2019

  • Brian Noland, president, East Tennessee State University

  • Raynard S. Kington, president, Grinnell College (IA)

Associations (One-Year Term Ending March 2018)

  • Council for Graduate Schools, Suzanne Ortega, president

  • National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, Justin Draeger, president and CEO

Media Contact
Jon Riskind
Telephone:(202) 939-9453