Fairfield University’s College of Arts and Sciences is proud to announce that the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has elected mathematics professor and department chair, Irene Mulvey, PhD, as president of the 105-year-old, faculty-led organization. A total of 213 chapter and section ballots were cast in the mail ballot election, representing a total of 22,305 votes. 

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., AAUP is a prestigious nonprofit membership association comprised of faculty and academic professionals based at colleges and universities across the country. Since its founding in 1915, the organization has helped shape American higher education by developing standards and procedures that maintain quality in education and academic freedom. The association’s main objectives are to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, to advance the rights of academics pertaining to academic freedom and shared governance, and to promote the interests of higher education teaching and research. 

“As an academic, I am keenly aware that the mission of the AAUP and its work are essential to the continued health of the academic profession,” Dr. Mulvey said. “I have served in leadership roles at the national level for decades, and I was ready and eager to step up when I saw the opportunity to serve as president of an organization that has been such an important part of my career. I am truly honored to have been elected… and I look forward with excitement to my new role.”

After running her campaign on a “Strength Through Representation” platform that promised to build collective leadership to ensure all voices are heard, one major initiative Dr. Mulvey and her cabinet plan to tackle in the early months of their administration is taking meaningful action to root out any systemic and institutional racism within the organization. Other major initiatives involve helping faculty across the country deal with unilateral administrative actions made in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as addressing the student debit crisis by taking steps to reframe the conversation.

Dr. Mulvey has been a professor at Fairfield since 1985. She has served multiple terms as president of the Faculty Welfare Committee/AAUP, Fairfield’s AAUP chapter, in addition to serving as president of the Connecticut AAUP conference. She has also served multiple terms as treasurer for both her chapter and the state conference, and was elected by the Council to serve on the AAUP’s Executive Committee three times. She is currently a member of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, for which she will continue to serve ex officio.