Before Cheri DeClercq even started at Michigan State University (MSU) in 2008, Lucy Maillette – her boss and then also a newly elected EMBAC board member – recommended that she attend the EMBAC Conference in Chicago, Illinois.

“I had never heard of the organization before that, but Lucy was a great mentor and a good catalyst to get me involved,” says DeClercq, who joined MSU as director of its EMBA Program. “And once you’re there, the people are amazing and the support system is so amazing that it’s easy to want to continue to be involved and engaged.”

Throughout the years, DeClercq has indeed made her mark as an EMBAC and industry leader. In October 2025, EMBAC acknowledged her work to advance the executive degree industry and EMBAC by awarding her 2025 Bud Fackler Award.

The Bud Fackler Service Award recognizes contributions to EMBAC and to executive degree programs worldwide, including efforts to help other programs, to share best practices, and to raise the quality of executive degree programs. The council named the award after Bud Fackler, the late director of the EMBA Program at the University of Chicago and one of the council’s founders.

DeClercq served on the EMBAC Board of Trustees from 2016 to 2022, including chairing the board from 2018 to 2019 and on the EMBAC conference planning committee in 2014, as well as co-chairing the 2017 EMBAC Conference in Seattle, Washington. She helped facilitate a regional meeting, has presented at conferences and events, volunteered on the EMBAC research committee, and has participated on the Working Professional Task Force since its launch in 2019.

“Cheri has done so much for EMBAC and so much to advance the executive degree industry,” says Michael Desiderio, EMBAC executive director. “We have benefited from her leadership and support in many ways, including strengthening our research agenda, ensuring the EMBAC tradition of a conference that offers unique professional development opportunities for members, and helping EMBAC plan for broadening its reach to other executive degree programs.”

DeClercq began her career as sales director for the Lansing Entertainment and Public Facilities Authority, but a move to northern Michigan led her to higher education and stints at Kirtland Community College, the Grand Valley State University Institute for Training and Development, and Central Michigan University (CMU). Along the way, she received her master’s degree in administration with a focus on leadership from CMU.

When a position opened at MSU in the EMBA space, DeClercq was eager to work with this particular group of adult learners. “I really love that student population,” she says. “They are people who are in demanding spaces in their careers and families, yet they are prioritizing this need to continue to invest in themselves and advance their education. It’s just a great group of people.”

When she arrived at MSU, she oversaw changes to the EMBA Program and expansion to the Detroit market, while pursuing her Ph.D. in higher education from MSU. As she moved into an assistant dean role, she led a variety of programs and initiatives. Now as assistant dean of graduate initiatives and academic innovation, she is creating a new graduate unit, integrating support services across the master’s portfolio, and leading academic innovations such as AI, new types of programs, and alternative credentials, as well as helping develop a fully online version of the EMBA Program.

Throughout her career, DeClercq has benefited from the EMBAC network, the research, and the resources of EMBAC. Because of its uniqueness among the many organizations in the higher education space, she encourages others in the executive degree space to take advantage of what EMBAC offers.

“This organization has just been special and impactful for me and for our program, and I don’t think that other organizations can have that level of impact,” she says. “It’s really well worth the time, energy, and dollars invested in being part of the community.”