New CEW Director Named

Gloria D. Thomas, Ph.D., has been named Director of the Center for the Education of Women, effective January 1, 2009. Dr. Thomas earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education at UM's Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, and she returns to Ann Arbor after eight years at the American Council on Education (ACE) in Washington, DC.

Dr. Thomas was the Associate Director of the ACE Office of Women in Higher Education (OWHE), collaborating on OWHE's four annual leadership forums, managing the office's budget, and establishing ACE Women's Networks in each state with a particular focus on connecting women of color administrators. She also served as Associate Project Director of the ACE- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Projects to Advance Faculty Career Flexibility in the Center for Effective Leadership. In this role, she oversaw a series of projects to promote career flexibility for tenured and tenure-track faculty.

Dr. Thomas's experience with institutional climate issues positions her to further CEW's commitment to advocacy and service for staff and faculty. In addition to expertise gained through work on the Sloan Project, she brings her well-developed connections to women's organizations across the country, including her membership on the board of the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW) and her deep engagement in the ACE state networks.

Dr. Thomas has served as an anonymous reviewer of proposals submitted to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and lead or co-authored five successful grant proposals netting $1.5 million in funding to ACE over a four-year period. This experience has prepared her to oversee CEW's current research projects as well as to expand its research agenda through collaborations on campus and with other women's centers.

With this appointment, Dr. Thomas returns to CEW, where she worked as the staff coordinator of the Women of Color in the Academy Project (WOCAP) and a graduate assistant while completing requirements for her Ph.D. Her former association with CEW and UM will allow her to quickly establish relationships with CEW benefactors and build campus connections.

Dr. Thomas succeeds Carol Hollenshead, who is currently in phased retirement.