Press Release

Contact: Debra Humphreys
Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs
202-387-3760
Humphreys@aacu.org

Association of American Colleges and Universities Presents 2008 Frederic W. Ness Book Award to Our Underachieving Colleges by Derek Bok

Washington, DC—February 19, 2008—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced at its recent Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, the winner of its Frederic W. Ness Book Award – Our Underachieving Colleges: A Candid Look at How Much Students Learn and Why They Should Be Learning More. The Ness award is given annually to the book that best illuminates the goals and practices of a contemporary liberal education.

Our Underachieving Colleges discusses the components of a liberal education in the twenty-first century and reports on students lack of progress in obtaining liberal education outcomes. Derek Bok is President Emeritus of Harvard University and Faculty Chair of the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations. He has written five other books on higher education including Beyond the Ivory Tower and Universities in the Marketplace.

The book, published in 2006, was selected by a committee of higher education leaders, including Elisabeth Zinser (chair), president emeritus of Southern Oregon University and senior fellow at AAC&U; Tori Haring-Smith, president of Washington and Jefferson College; Carol Lucey, president of Western Nevada College; and David Shi, president of Furman University.

“Unlike some other critiques with robust distain and sparse understanding, Mr. Bok’s criticisms are couched in genuine respect for the good work of our institutions and faculties, the challenges they face, and real evidence of innovation and progress,” said Elisabeth Zinser. “While candid and constructive, Our Underachieving Colleges goes beyond criticism alone – it moves forward to think about pathways to achieve the contemporary liberal education that all of our students need and deserve.”

This book award was established by AAC&U in 1979 to honor AAC&U's president emeritus, Frederic W. Ness. Recent award winners include Saving Higher Education in the Age of Money by James Engell and Anthony Dangerfield, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education by Martha Nussbaum, and Idealism and Liberal Education by James O. Freedman.

AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises more than 1,200 member institutions—including accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size.

AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce the collective commitment to liberal education at both the national and local levels and to help individual institutions keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.