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Bagchi-Sen named an ACE Fellow
Geography prof to get course in senior leadership skills
By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen, professor in the Department of Geography, College of Arts and Sciences, has been named a fellow of the American Council on Education (ACE) for 2006-07.
BAGCHI-SEN
The ACE Fellows Program is designed to strengthen institutions and leadership in American higher education by identifying and preparing promising faculty and senior administrators for responsible positions in college and university administration.
Bagchi-Sen is one of 38 fellows nominated by senior administrators at their institutions and selected in a national competition.
Of the more than 1,500 fellows who have participated in the program since its inception in 1964, more than 300 have gone on to serve as chief executive officers of more than 350 colleges and universities, according to Marlene Ross, director of the ACE Fellows Program.
The intensive program combines seminars, interactive learning opportunities, campus events and placement at another higher education institution. Fellows observe and work with a college or university president and other senior officers at their host institution, attend decision-making meetings and focus on issues of concern.
While at her host institution, which had not yet been determined at Reporter press time, Bagchi-Sen will focus on the structures and strategies that universities are putting in place to remain "research competitive in a globalized market for talent."
"The ACE fellowship will allow me to observe and learn from an expert administrator the pros and cons of interdisciplinary, inter-institutional and international collaborations in a university acclaimed for its research and development performance," she said. "I will look at how new frontiers of research call for new policies and organizational change, how human capital/talent development efforts at universities are impacting undergraduate/graduate training and communities—especially K-12—and how resource constraints in universities are influencing basic versus applied research, and research in non-science disciplines.
"Ultimately, the question that remains unanswered is whether or not American universities can continue to create legacies in the 21st century that will be unparalleled in the world," she said. "From the ACE experience, I hope to understand what innovative structures and strategies are being put in place in universities so they can remain research competitive in a globalized market for talent."
Bagchi-Sen currently serves as one of four fellows in the UB Faculty in Leadership Program, an initiative designed to give senior faculty members an inside look at the university's administration with an eye toward both bettering the university and helping bridge the gap between the faculty and the administration. As her project for this program, she is studying the university's economic impact, both locally and nationally, with a focus on alliances with industry—especially the biotechnology industry.
In his letter nominating Bagchi-Sen for the ACE Fellowship Program, Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, called her "an accomplished researcher and teacher" who also has been "cultivating an interest in university administration." He said working with her in the UB faculty fellowship program, "I have come to know that she has a genuine interest in honing her leadership skills and is truly motivated to learn, understand and contribute to the university enterprise, not only as a scholar and teacher, but also in a leadership role."
Well-known and respected in the field of geography, Bagchi-Sen's research interests lie in the areas of international trade, foreign direct investment, service industries, labor markets and urban-industrial geography. She is editor in chief of Professional Geographer, the flagship journal of the Association of American Geographers, and is a recipient of a Lilly Endowment Teaching Fellowship.
While at UB, she has held numerous administrative posts, including as director of graduate studies for the geography department and a member of the advisory committee of the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy in the UB Law School. She also served on the Vice President for Research Search Committee.