Marymount University will soon welcome higher education leader Dr. Nathan Carter to its campus as a Fellow of the American Council on Education’s (ACE) prestigious leadership development program. Dr. Carter currently serves as the inaugural Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA).
Since 1965, the ACE Fellows Program has served as a customized learning experience for rising higher education professionals, immersing participants in the study and practice of leadership. It condenses years of on-the-job experience and skills development into a single year — and upon completion of the program, ACE Fellows have pursued high-level executive positions in the higher education field.
After multiple rounds of interviews and a highly competitive application process which spanned several months, Dr. Carter and 36 other higher education professionals were selected as members of the 2023-2024 ACE Fellows cohort. He is the only member of the cohort with a community college background.
“As a former community college student myself who started his educational journey on the campus of Sacramento City College in California way back in 1995, to now becoming an ACE Fellow — it meant so much to me that I was chosen,” Dr. Carter said.
Dr. Carter has dedicated his whole life to higher education — from his time as an assistant professor of communication studies at California State University, San Bernardino, to his experience as a research analyst for the Virginia Department of Education, and finally to his decade-plus tenure at NOVA. With his selection as an ACE Fellow, he now aims to sharpen his leadership skills within a program that has a track record of success in preparing leaders to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
When given the choice for his fellowship placement. Dr. Carter specifically requested Marymount.
“President Becerra’s extraordinary service to Marymount University, her compassionate commitment to inclusive excellence and her philanthropic accomplishments are the main reasons I want to complete an ACE Fellowship with her and her leadership team,” Dr. Carter explained.
Dr. Carter will begin his year-long commitment in January 2024, as he is set to work closely with President Becerra and her leadership team on multiple strategic projects. One project focuses on community vibrancy, aiming to position the University to address systemic inequities at institutional and community levels while increasing college students’ sense of belonging. In conjunction, he and the Marymount team will collaborate on meeting the needs of community college students by effectively adjusting recruitment and engagement activities for transfer students, all while learning how Marymount works to provide holistic and innovative resources for the entire student population.
“I look forward to meeting members of the Marymount community and immersing myself in Saints life!”
To learn more about the ACE Fellows Program, click here.
