Randolph-Macon College is proud to host its first American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow, Dr. Tiffany Birdsong, Chief Academic Officer of Richard Bland College of William and Mary. Birdsong will spend the 2024-2025 academic year in residence at RMC, working with and learning from President Robert R. Lindgren and Provost Alisa Rosenthal and the RMC leadership team.

Birdsong is among a highly competitive group of 26 emerging leaders from throughout the nation in the 2024-25 class of ACE Fellows. 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.

“As part of the ACE process, we selected Dr. Birdsong, and, importantly, she selected Randolph-Macon College,” explained President Robert R. Lindgren. “I think that mutual admiration and respect is an important foundation on which to build an experience that promises to enrich Dr. Birdsong as a leader and strengthen our college community from her leadership and fresh perspective.”

“I was drawn to Randolph-Macon College because of its liberal arts tradition and emphasis on providing students with an exceptional educational experience that prepares them for future success,” Birdsong said. “President Lindgren’s 19 years of leadership and strategic institutional transformation, paired with documented success in increasing private support of the College are the main reasons I sought to complete the ACE Fellowship with him and his leadership team.” 

More than 2,000 higher education leaders have participated in the ACE Program over the past five decades, with more than 80% of fellows serving as senior leaders of colleges and universities. Dr. Alisa Rosenthal served as an ACE Fellow in 2016-17 with a residency at Wabash College in Indiana from her institution at the time, Gustavus Adolphus College.

“The ACE mission aims to advance higher education, leader by leader, and I know I am still benefiting from the range of experiences I had,” explained Rosenthal. “That’s why I was so enthusiastic to bring an ACE Fellow to RMC—particularly someone as engaged and insightful as Dr. Birdsong. Together, I’m confident we will all stretch our thinking and tackle new challenges together in this critical time for the College.”

Dr. Tiffany R. F. Birdsong has been at Richard Bland College (RBC) in Petersburg, Va., since 2015, and a member of its leadership team as Chief Academic Officer since 2022. Prior to assuming those responsibilities, she was also an Associate Professor of Psychology specializing in teaching Abnormal Psychology, and then Chair of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Department. She has served as leader of the Faculty Assembly, and as Richard Bland College Faculty Representative to the William & Mary Board of Visitors.

She became Director of Academics in 2020, before she was elevated to her current role. Birdsong earned her B.S. in psychology from Manhattan College, and her M.A. and Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from La Salle University.

“Provost Rosenthal’s experience as a former ACE Fellow and her strengths as RMC’s provost provide additional levels of insight and support that make RMC an ideal learning environment,” Birdsong said. “I am excited to join the RMC community and look forward to expanding my knowledge of the broader higher education landscape while meaningfully contributing to innovation happening at the College.”

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. 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.