The American Council on Education (ACE) named former North Carolina president Molly Corbett Broad president effective May 1. Broad will be the first woman to lead the nation's foremost higher education organization.

A professor in North Carolina's school of government, Broad will succeed David Ward who served six years as ACE president. She served as president of the 16-campus North Carolina system from 1997-2006, overseeing a $6 billion budget; 200,000 students; a health care system and the UNC Center for Public Television. She was a champion for a need-based financial aid program for in-state undergraduates.

During her tenure, minority enrollment grew at more than double the overall student body rate. She also oversaw the expansion of distance education and collaborations with the state's community colleges.

Prior to North Carolina, Broad worked in the California State University system, the Arizona system and in several posts at Syracuse. She also has experience as a state higher education executive officer.

Broad has a background in economics and attended Syracuse. She also holds a master's degree from Ohio State.

"It has been my great privilege to serve a wide array of America’s institutions of higher education,” Broad said. “Serving the American Council on Education, at this point in my career, is an extraordinary opportunity to draw on all that experience and to help advance these institutions that are both central to our nation’s future and enriching to the students and communities that we serve. It is, indeed, an honor to follow in the footsteps of many great leaders in ACE’s history.”