Physics Professor Parviz Ansari Named an American Council on Education Fellow
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| Professor Parviz Ansari |
Seton Hall University is pleased to announce that Parviz Ansari, Ph.D., professor of physics and chair of the Department of Physics, has been named an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow for the 2005-06 academic year.
The ACE Fellows Program, established in 1965, is designed to strengthen institutions and leadership in American higher education by identifying and preparing promising senior faculty and administrators for responsible positions in college and university administration. Forty Fellows, nominated by the presidents or chancellors of their institutions, were selected this year in a national competition.
Ansari has led a stellar career at Seton Hall since he first joined as an assistant professor in 1983. He has been instrumental in furthering the physics department's mission and has been the chair of the department since 1994. In that time, the department has grown substantially through a comprehensive strategic plan, resulting in a number of major changes with a stronger focus on teaching and research, including the implementation of new double degree programs with New Jersey Institute of Technology.
In its March 1999 issue, The Physics Teacher named Seton Hall's physics department one of the seven "big gainers" in the nation (view an Adobe PDF of the article), based on the rate of growth in physics bachelor's degrees earned. Ansari contributed to the nearly 250 percent increase in students majoring in physics.
Ansari has played a vital role in securing major grants for Seton Hall's new Science and Technology Center, for which construction will begin this summer. Over the years, he has acquired instrumentation and research grants from industry, state and federal agencies. Ansari publishes regularly and has lectured at national and international conferences, and his research has been performed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Marlene Ross, Ph.D., director of the ACE Fellows Program, noted that most previous Fellows have advanced into major positions in academic administration. Of the more than 1,450 participants in the first 40 years of the program, more than 250 have become chief executive officers and more than 1,000 have become provosts, vice presidents or deans.
"We're extremely pleased with the incoming class," Ross says. "The individuals selected have demonstrated strong leadership ability. The Fellows Program will sharpen and enhance their leadership skills and prepare them to address issues of concern to the higher education community."
Each ACE Fellow will focus on an issue of concern to the nominating institution while spending the next academic year working with a college or university president and other senior officers at a host institution. During his fellowship, Ansari will attend three week-long seminars on higher education issues organized by ACE, read extensively on topics in the field and engage in other activities to promote knowledge about the challenges and opportunities confronting higher education today and throughout this century.
Founded in 1918, ACE is the nation's largest higher education association, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents and more than 200 related associations nationwide. ACE seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research and program initiatives.