The American Council on Education (ACE) has announced that Soraya M. Coley, president of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, has been selected to receive the 2023 ACE Donna Shavlik Award. Coley is the first woman and first African American scholar to be named president of Cal Poly Pomona, the most diverse polytechnic university in the nation with nearly 30,000 students and 2,700 faculty and staff.

ACE established the Donna Shavlik Award to commemorate the outstanding service of Donna Shavlik, former director of ACE's Office of Women in Higher Education.

Presented annually, the award honors an individual who demonstrates a sustained commitment to advancing women in higher education through leadership and career development, campus climate, and mentoring.

“Throughout her decades-long career, President Coley has demonstrated a sustained and continuing commitment to the advancement of women through actions or initiatives enhancing women's leadership development,” said ACE President Ted Mitchell. “President Coley’s unwavering dedication to advancing women in higher education exemplifies the spirit behind the ACE Donna Shavlik award.”

Coley is committed to promoting the advancement of women to leadership in higher education. At Cal Poly Pomona, the composition of her President’s Cabinet leadership team is currently 75 percent women.

As the ACE Southern California Women’s Network presidential sponsor for four years, she has devoted resources to the professional development of women and is currently overseeing a new strategic direction for the network that focuses on creating multiple leadership pathways for women at various stages in their academic careers.

Coley has spent nearly her entire career in the California State University system, rising from lecturer to a tenured faculty member, department chair, dean, provost, and president. Throughout, she benefitted from the mentorship of other female leaders in higher education, and that has influenced her commitment to mentoring others.

The Donna Shavlik Award will be presented next month at the Women’s Leadership Dinner during ACE2023, ACE’s annual meeting that will take place in Washington, DC, April 13-15.