Hiram Fitzgerald, associate provost for University Outreach and Engagement, has been inducted into the Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship.
Fitzgerald was nominated and selected by peers in recognition of his long career and many accomplishments in collaborating with communities to address critical issues of societal and scholarly significance.
ACES is an international academy of individuals deemed by their peers as having made significant contributions to the scholarship of engagement and the worldwide movement for university community engagement.
Fitzgerald is among the inaugural members of the Academy, and was formally conferred with lifetime membership during an induction ceremony at the Engagement Scholarship Consortium meeting Oct. 7 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The mission of the Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship is to assist in improving the physical, social, civic and economic wellbeing of communities by advancing scholarship based on collaborative discovery by communities and their higher education partners. Members selected are based on recognition by their peers as exceptional in their accomplishments in engagement. They then draw on that expertise to further the application of engagement for addressing the challenges and opportunities of community and higher education partners.
In addition to his associate provost role, Fitzgerald is University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology, president of the Engagement Scholarship Consortium, and co-chair of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation’s Committee on Engagement. He is past president and executive director of both the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health and the International Association for Infant Mental Health, and served as executive director of the World Association for Infant Mental Health from 1992-2008.
In August 2014 he was appointed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to the Early Childhood Investment Corporation, an organization that includes leaders and experts in the area of early childhood programs who are working to ensure that Michigan children enter kindergarten safe, healthy and eager to learn.