The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program has announced that Dr. Tiffany Ray, Germanna Community College Vice President of Student Services and Equity Advancement, is one of 31 leaders selected for the 2022-23 class of the Aspen Rising Presidents Fellowship. This program, delivered in collaboration with the Stanford Educational Leadership Initiative, prepares the next generation of community college presidents to transform institutions to achieve higher and more equitable levels of student success.
Many sitting community college presidents plan to retire in the next decade, creating vacancies and an opportunity to diversify college leadership. Aspen Presidential Fellows represent the next generation of college leadership: this incoming class of Aspen Rising Presidents Fellows is 70 percent female, and 54 percent are people of color. The institutions they represent are diverse, located in 16 states, from small rural colleges to large urban campuses. The fellows, selected through a competitive process, will work closely with highly accomplished community college presidents, Aspen leaders, and Stanford University faculty over ten months to learn from field-leading research, define and assess student success at their colleges, and clarify their visions for excellent and equitable outcomes for students while in college and after they graduate.
“The leaders that come through the Rising Presidents Fellowship continually inspire us,” said Josh Wyner, executive director of the College Excellence Program. “We are motivated by the dedication and expertise that our fellows bring to advancing excellence and equity on their campuses, and we look forward to supporting their work.”
“Dr. Ray is ideally suited for this honor as a recognized leader not just across Virginia but also nationally,” said Germanna President Janet Gullickson. “She has led Germanna’s exceptional growth and innovative approaches as we serve students of all kinds enrolling and succeeding in their careers. I am so proud of her and what she will contribute to the Aspen Institute and our profession as educators.”
Dr. Ray said: “I’m thrilled and honored to join the 2022-23 Aspen Institute Rising Presidents Fellowship. This aligns well with our work at Germanna to increase student success and equity. Along with the other 31 fellows, we’ll learn from national leaders, build a network of forward-thinking peers, and apply grounded and innovative strategies to meet student success challenges.”
Rising Presidents Fellows aspire to enter a college presidency within five years of completing the fellowship. As fellows, they join a network of over 300 forward-thinking peers—122 of whom are sitting college presidents—who are applying grounded and innovative strategies to meet student success challenges in their colleges.
The Aspen Rising Presidents Fellowship is made possible by the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation College Futures Foundation, Joyce Foundation, and JPMorgan Chase.
