The mission of the Society of Senior Ford Fellows shall be to leverage its collective achievements as publicly facing scholars in the arts, education, engineering, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences in order to influence academic, national, and global conversations and action toward the attainment of social justice, equity, and the advancement of intellectual rigor and democratic values in the United States and global society.

Click here to read our bylaws.

Current Officers

Executive Committee 2024, January 1, 2024 to Dec. 31, 2024

President: Koritha Mitchell

President Elect: Kristy Duran

Past President: Yvette Huet 

Vice President: Keivan Stassun

Secretary: Crystal Lucky

Treasurer: Susan Antón

Members-at-Large:

• Scott Stevens  
• Brenda Child
• Carlos Garza
• Kimberly Blockett (as of Aug 1)
• Rihana S. Mason
• Inés Hernández-Ávila
• Caroline Sinavaiana Gabbard (in memoriam)

The Society of Senior Ford Fellows (SSFF) can trace its ancestry to at least the early 2000s. 

At multiple gatherings, groups of senior scholars discussed forming some entity that would facilitate their support of each other to benefit all fellows, their communities, the nation, and the world. In April 2006, the Ford Foundation hosted a meeting at which fellows discussed many issues, with one of the action items being the formation of a Senior Scholars Planning Group. Follow-ups to that meeting created opportunities for ongoing discussions about the unique value of the Ford Fellowships Program and the role that Senior Fellows could play in strengthening the program and empowering larger communities. Those interested in being part of the conversation were invited to gather in Washington, D.C., during the annual conference for early-career researchers. This was October of 2006.

Drs. Otto Santa Ana and P. Gabrielle Foreman were among those helping to facilitate a conversation about a group whose existence could change the landscape. After all, so the belief went, there must be Ford fellows around the United States and beyond who no longer participate in the conference but who still feel committed to the community. Because the annual conference was invitation-only and strictly limited in size, the only fellows guaranteed to attend were those who had recently been awarded financial support. Staying connected to this new group would not be limited in the same way.

From that point onward, there was always discussion about creating a collective that would not be limited by the structure of the annual Ford conference, but there was little momentum until Drs. Susan Antón and Keivan Stassun initiated the formation of the Senior Ford Fellows Steering Committee. That group served as a liaison between the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), which began administering the Ford Foundation Fellowships Program around 1979, and the to-be-formed independent organization of senior fellows. 

With logistical and other support from NAS, the Steering Committee’s subcommittee for programming organized the first meeting of “senior” Ford fellows, those who had earned tenure and/or were 7+ years beyond earning the PhD. That convening took place in 2012, with heavy lifting from Drs. Oveta Fuller and Michelle Neyman Morris, the day before the annual Ford conference for new awardees. It also coincided with the celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the Ford Foundation Fellowships Program.

The goal was to bring Senior Ford fellows together on a biennial basis, usually tagging on to the conference supporting early-career fellows, given that some senior fellows would be in attendance in a mentoring capacity. After those interactions, they could join with other senior fellows for another level of networking and communing. That 2012 conference was followed by similar gatherings in 2014, 2016, and 2018. Over the years, sessions empowered senior fellows to consider paths to administrative leadership, prepare for fellowships like the Guggenheim, and learn what endowed professorships entail. Senior fellows were also trained by the OpEd Project to reach public audiences with their research. 

The 2018 convening was also used to gain feedback on proposed bylaws for a more formal organization. This process was overseen by a non-hierarchical presidential line that provided immediate stability: President Keivan Stassun, President-Elect Susan Antón, and Past-President Rafia Zafar. Because the leadership used a membership structure, without making membership fees mandatory, senior fellows voted on adopting the bylaws and voted to elect a broader slate of board members for the more formalized organization; their terms commenced on January 1, 2019, and they benefited immeasurably from the support, input, and careful guidance of Ray Gamble, Director of the Fellowships Office at NAS.

This newly elected board looked forward to the 2020 senior conference, but the COVID-19 pandemic prevented it. Officers consistently worked on projects other than the convenings, however, so Dr. Jonathan Lorenzo Yorba shepherded The Society of Senior Ford Fellows (SSFF) through the process to gain IRS recognition as a 501(c)3 organization. The approval came in March 2020.

While navigating pandemic life, senior fellows who had prioritized The Society also continued to support early-career fellows. As a result, many of them participated in the 2021 annual Conference of Ford Fellows, which was 100% online. Among other things, this video was created to give younger fellows a sense of what we all hoped to return to when we could gather in person: