RADFORD – Nayshon Mosley-Milford, Ed.D., dean of student success at Chicago State University, is joining Radford University as an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow for the 2024-25 academic year.
Beginning this month, Mosley-Milford will make four two-week visits to the university to engage in a year-long mentorship program with President Bret Danilowicz and senior university leaders.
“I’m truly excited to be mentored by President Danilowicz during my ACE Fellowship,” Mosley-Milford said. “His leadership and focus on innovation in higher education inspires me, and I’m eager to learn from his expertise in driving student success and institutional change. Radford’s welcoming and close-knit community makes this opportunity even more special, and I look forward to being a part of it throughout this academic year.”
“We are delighted that Dr. Mosley-Milford chose Radford University for her ACE Fellowship, and we hope to gain as much from her expertise and perspectives as she will learn from us,” Danilowicz said. “Dr. Mosley-Milford has interest in our strategic priorities related to enrollment stabilization and economic development, and as a first-generation student herself, wants to learn more about our strong tradition of positioning first-gen students for success. We support her aspirations to affect systemic change around affordability and access to higher education.”
Mosley-Milford is in her 18th year at Chicago State, the oldest public university in the Chicago metropolitan area and the only Predominantly Black four-year institution in Illinois. Throughout her career at CSU, she has served in leadership roles that advance student access and retention. In 2022, Mosley-Milford became the university’s inaugural dean of student success, leading initiatives designed to enhance student retention and graduation rates.
Mosley-Milford earned her Ed.D. in educational leadership from CSU, a Master of Arts degree in inner city studies from Northeastern Illinois University and Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Lewis University.
Established in 1965, the ACE Fellows Program is designed to strengthen institutional and leadership capacity in American higher education by identifying and preparing faculty and staff for senior positions in college and university administration. The 2024-25 class represents the diversity of the country’s higher education institutions by gender, race/ethnicity, institution type and disciplinary background. The class also reflects a wide array of geographies and institutional missions, including several Fellows with international backgrounds. Seventy percent of the cohort are from public institutions and 30% are from private institutions.
Over 2,000 higher education leaders have participated in the ACE Fellows Program over the past five decades, with more than 80% of Fellows serving as senior leaders of colleges and universities.
The ACE Fellows Program combines retreats, interactive learning opportunities, campus visits, and placement at another higher education institution to condense years of on-the-job experience and skills development into a single academic year. The Fellows are included in the highest level of decision-making while participating in administrative activities at their host institutions. Time is also spent investigating a specified issue of benefit to their nominating institutions for implementation upon the Fellows’ return to campus at the conclusion of the Fellowship placement.
Patrick Reed for Radford University
