Frater, Dr. William Muse Accepts Fellowship at Kettering Foundation

DAYTON, Ohio - Educator and former university president Frater William V. Muse (Epsilon-Upsilon, Northwestern State University) of Cincinnati has been selected as the 2007 Richard D. Lombard Fellow at the Charles F. Kettering Foundation in Dayton, Ohio, Kettering President David Mathews announced this week.

Frater Muse will join the foundation for three months beginning October 1. While there, he will work with Michigan State University seeking ways to use cooperative extension programs as a delivery system for deliberative citizen forums.

Established in 1989, the fellowship is awarded annually to distinguished civic and education leaders who can bring unique contributions to the work of the foundation. The Kettering Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to identifying practices that make democracy work better.

Frater Muse served as chief executive officer of three major universities over a period of some 20 years. He was president of the University of Akron from 1984 to 1992. In 1992 he was appointed president of Auburn University, and served as chancellor of East Carolina University for two years after his retirement from Auburn in 2001.

A graduate of Northwestern State University in Louisiana, Frater Muse earned his MBA and PhD degrees from the University of Arkansas. His long and distinguished academic career included both teaching and administrative positions. He served as dean of business schools at Appalachian State University, the University of Nebraska, and Texas A&M University where he was later appointed vice-chancellor for academic programs.

Currently a business and education consultant, Muse is director of the National Issues Forum Institute and vice chair of the United Way Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. A Past Grand Prytanis of Tau Kappa Epsilon, Frater Muse is now a member of the board of directors of the TKE Education Foundation. He joined the ranks of Circle of Excellence in 2007, Life Loyal Teke program in 2003, received the Fraternity for Life Award in 2002, is a Knight of Apollo (1993), Teke Alumnus of the Year recipient in 1985, Order of the Golden Eagle in 1983, and member of the Southern Order of Honor.

The first North American to hold the Lombard fellowship, Muse joins a distinguished cadre of former fellows that include Rodrigo Botero, former finance minister of Colombia; Gennady Chufrin, former deputy director of the Russian Institute of Oriental Studies; and Li Chenghi, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, China.

Focusing on the role of citizens, Kettering Foundation research seeks to find means by which people can exert some control over what happens in their lives, beginning in their communities. The foundation collaborates with like-minded organizations across the nation and around the world, particularly in the emerging democracies of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Central Europe.

The Lombard Fellowship was named for Richard Lombard, former president of the Kettering Foundation and chairman of its board of trustees. More information on the Kettering Foundation is available by clicking here.

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