Atlanta, GA (April 9, 2024) – Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) President Stephanie Fabritius will retire at the end of this academic year, effective as of June 30, 2024. Dr. Fabritius was elected President of ACS by its Board of Directors in April of 2019 and took office in July of that year.
During her tenure Dr. Fabritius guided the consortium through the COVID-19 pandemic, broadened the regular engagement of ACS to a much larger range of staff and faculty at member colleges, stabilized both the financial model and the staffing, added academic leadership programming, and brought in additional major grant funding. She leaves ACS well positioned for the next president.
“In various ways, ACS has been an important part of my life for over 25 years,” said Dr. Fabritius. “I will always feel honored to have played a role in advancing our consortia as we capitalized on opportunities and confronted challenges, such as the pandemic, with determination and conviction. It has been a privilege to work alongside the dedicated staff and faculty of each of our member schools.”
Prior to serving as President of ACS, Dr. Fabritius was with ACS member Centre College, where she served as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college for 12 years. She has also served as a professor of biology, associate provost and the inaugural director of the Paideia Program at ACS member Southwestern University. In 2002-2003, she was an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow at Bowdoin College. She holds a B.S. in biology from Pepperdine University, and a Ph.D. in biological sciences (ecology, evolution, and behavior) from Purdue University.
“I speak on behalf of the entire ACS Board of Directors when I say we deeply appreciate Dr. Fabritius’ leadership of our consortium,” said Milton Moreland, Chair of the ACS Board of Directors and President of Centre College. “When she told us that she was planning on retiring this coming June, we knew it would be a bittersweet transition for us. We have enjoyed a strong and fruitful partnership with Stephanie, and while we know that she feels this is the right time for her to retire, we will greatly miss her impactful and compassionate leadership.”
Following Dr. Fabritius’ announcement to the Board of Directors last year, a national comprehensive search was launched with the assistance of Isaacson, Miller executive search firm. An announcement of the next president of ACS is expected in April of 2024.
About Associated Colleges of the South:
Founded in 1991, Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) is a consortium of sixteen nationally recognized colleges and universities committed to providing excellent and accessible liberal arts education. ACS strengthens and advances residential liberal arts education through connection and collaboration, leadership development programs, diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and by administering grants to support collaborative curricula and innovative instruction practices.
ACS member schools are in twelve states across the South and include Birmingham-Southern College, Centenary College of Louisiana, Centre College, Davidson College, Furman University, Hendrix College, Millsaps College, Morehouse College, Rhodes College, Rollins College, Sewanee: The University of the South, Southwestern University, Spelman College, Trinity University, University of Richmond, and Washington and Lee University.