Lehigh University Assistant Vice President Named to Select Higher Education Fellowship

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Sept. 26, 2018 - PRLog -- Cameron J. McCoy, Ph.D., assistant vice president of Lehigh's Office of Economic Engagement, has been named an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow for 2018-19. Provost Patrick Farrell nominated McCoy, now one of just 43 rising leaders in American higher education tapped for a year of immersive professional development.

Established in 1965, the ACE Fellows Program identifies and prepares faculty and staff for senior positions in college and university administration, strengthening institutions and leadership through its intensive nominator-driven, cohort-based mentorship model. Most ACE Fellows have gone on to key administrative positions, ultimately serving as presidents, provosts, vice presidents, and deans.

"For more than a half-century, the ACE Fellows Program has been a powerful engine fueling the expansion of a talented and diverse higher education leadership pipeline," said ACE President Ted Mitchell. "We are excited to welcome this new class of Fellows and look forward to each enjoying a transformative experience that will help advance individual leadership readiness while also enriching the capacity of institutions to innovate and thrive."

Since he joined Lehigh in 2014, McCoy has led efforts to reimagine university relationships – internal and external – as a dynamic integration of interfaces: his team aligns Lehigh's strengths in education and research, as well as its influence as an anchor in the region, to maximize economic engagement, impact, and institutional innovation. McCoy's approaches employ the findings of his research, combining economics and educational administration to allocate human, fiscal, and physical resources most efficiently.

McCoy serves on the boards of the University-Industry Innovation Network and the Association of University Research Parks, among others, and is a frequent speaker on university and business collaboration at national and international conferences. He holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in economics and educational administration,  an M.A. in organizational leadership from the University of Oklahoma, and several undergraduate degrees from Washington State University (B.A., history, B.A., social studies, and B.S., architectural studies, cum laude with honors and global certificates). He has worked in the private sector, at the University of Oklahoma, and as an officer in the United States Army.

McCoy will spend much of the 2018-19 academic year as an ACE Fellow at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, working closely with President Angel Cabrera and other senior leadership. Under their guidance, he will create an individual learning plan realized through retreats, travel, and projects on issues of pressing concern for Lehigh.

The ACE Fellowship's rigor condenses years of on-the-job training and study into one, a rare avenue for an accelerated comparative experience. "This is an exhilarating time in higher education," McCoy says. "All our paradigms are shifting. We have an opportunity to harness the energy of change right into our structures, making them stronger, more efficient, and more impactful at scale. I am eager to learn and incredibly thankful to Lehigh's leadership, George Mason University, and ACE for this opportunity."

About ACE
Celebrating its centennial in 2018, ACE is the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, representing nearly 1,800 college and university presidents and related associations. It provides leadership on key higher education issues and influences public policy through advocacy. For more information, please visit www.acenet.edu or follow ACE on Twitter @ACEducation.