Kimberly Griffin M.A. ’01, dean of the оʦҷ黨Ƶ College of Education, and Sharon Fries-Britt ’81, Ph.D. ’94, Distinguished University Professor in the College of Education, were among 25 higher education leaders inducted into the inaugural cohort of Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Fellows at ASHE’s annual conference in Denver on November 14. Griffin and Fries-Britt were selected in recognition of their commitment to integrity, advancement of knowledge, mentoring and service.
ASHE, a scholarly community of over 2,000 members dedicated to advancing the study of higher education, launched the fellowship program as it celebrates its 50th year. According to a statement by ASHE, the inaugural cohort is representative of the diversity of ASHE membership and the field of higher education.
A self-identified “problem-based researcher,” Griffin pursues research that promotes access, diversity, equity and justice in higher education, with a focus on mentorship, career development, and faculty and graduate student diversity. She recently co-authored the third edition of “On Being a Mentor: A Guide for Higher Education Faculty,” which is considered the definitive guide to mentoring in academia. Griffin’s work has been published in such highly regarded journals as the Review of Higher Education, Journal of College Student Development, Journal of Negro Education and Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, where she also served as editor from 2018 to 2022.
Griffin has been recognized as one of the most influential education scholars in the United States for four consecutive years through Education Week’s RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings. She was named an American Educational Research Association Fellow (2025) and has also received the Promising Scholar/Early Career Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education (2013) and multiple awards from the American College Personnel Association, including the Diamond Honoree Award (2020), Outstanding Mentor to Graduate Students Award (2018) and as one of the organization’s Emerging Scholars (2010).
“It’s such an honor to be inducted into the inaugural cohort of ASHE Fellows alongside my colleague and mentor, Dr. Sharon Fries-Britt,” said Griffin. “Dr. Fries-Britt and I are both deeply committed to advancing mentorship and creating welcoming, caring environments in higher education for all students. Without question, it is a career highlight to be recognized by ASHE and to join a cohort of such outstanding colleagues.”
Fries-Britt’s work examines the experiences of high-achieving Black students and underrepresented students in STEM fields, as well as issues of race, equity and diversity. She is a co-author and co-editor of two recent books: “Black Women Navigating the Doctoral Journey: Student Peer Support, Mentorship, and Success in the Academy” (2023) and “Building Mentorship Networks to Support Black Women: A Guide to Succeeding in the Academy” (2022). In her current project with the Gates Foundation, Fries-Britt is studying how higher education institutions are transforming campus cultures and facilitating success for Black, Latinx and Indigenous students and students from low-income backgrounds.
Her groundbreaking work has earned her numerous accolades. AERA honored her with the Social Justice in Education Award in 2021, and she won the American Physical Society Excellence in Physics Education Award in 2022 for her efforts to increase Black representation in physics and astronomy.
“I am honored to be in the inaugural class of ASHE Fellows and to have the fullness of my research and practice in higher education be recognized as meaningful and valuable to the field,” said Fries-Britt.
College of Education alumna Gina Ann Garcia M.A. ’05, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Education, was also named an ASHE Fellow.
