UCF’s Ross Wolf ’88 ’91MPA ’98EdD, professor and associate provost for UCF Downtown, has been named an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow for the 2022-23 academic year.
Following nomination by the senior administration of their institutions and a rigorous application process, 46 Fellows were selected this year. The year-long program seeks to strengthen colleges and universities by preparing vice presidents, deans, department chairs, faculty, and other administrators for senior and executive academic leadership roles through mentorship, interactive retreats, and advanced skills development. During the placement, fellows observe and work with the president and other senior officers at their host institution, attend decision-making meetings, and focus on issues of importance in higher education. Fellows also conduct projects of pressing concern for their home institution and seek to implement their findings upon completion of the fellowship placement.
“The ACE Fellows Program is an opportunity to expand my experience and skills as an academic administrator,” Wolf says. “I am grateful for the chance to participate, grow my professional network, engage with university presidents and provosts from across the nation, and bring new ideas back to UCF that will support our goal of becoming the nation’s leading public metropolitan university.”
His ACE Fellow selection follows his promotion last month to associate provost of UCF Downtown. Wolf helped launch the UCF Downtown campus in 2019 as assistant provost of the urban campus. In his latest role, he oversees campus academics and operations, initiatives, partnerships and community relations for a UCF Downtown campus that serves more than 7,500 students.
Wolf’s administrative service includes leadership roles as an associate dean in the College of Community Innovation and Education and the former College of Health and Public Affairs. Wolf is also a tenured professor in UCF’s Department of Criminal Justice and an accomplished criminal justice scholar. His academic work and research include books, grants, and publications focusing on volunteer policing and police administration. He is a visiting fellow at the Institute for Public Safety, Crime, and Justice at the University of Northampton in the United Kingdom and has worked with police agencies across the United States and internationally in Aruba, Dubai, Hong Kong, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, St. Lucia, and the United Kingdom.
“The ACE Fellows program embodies ACE’s goal of enriching the capacity of agile leaders to problem-solve and innovate, and it fuels the expansion of a talented and diverse higher education leadership pipeline,” says ACE President Ted Mitchell. “Fellows continue to excel in prominent leadership roles, and the potential of this new cohort to bring strong leadership to institutions across America greatly excites me.”
Wolf says he looks forward to gaining new perspectives from a national network of leaders that can inspire innovative approaches for problem-solving, collaboration and strategic thinking.
“Becoming an ACE fellow is a major honor in higher education and an exciting opportunity for Dr. Wolf and for UCF,” says Michael D. Johnson, UCF provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “I know our downtown campus and the university will benefit from the wealth of insights he will gain from this special experience.”
