Damon Williams
Diversity, Science Fiction, and Organizational Change:
A Primer for Higher Education Leaders

Damon A. Williams, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Diversity and Climate; Associate Vice Chancellor, Clinical Assistant Professor, Division General Educational Administration, School of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analyses, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Wisconsin

Dr. Damon A. Williams’ practice centers on diversity, inclusion, and organizational change across all areas of organizational life. As a scholar, administrator, and agent of change, he actively addresses issues of diversity and inclusion as a matter of first priority in his research, university leadership, work with colleagues across the country, and public life. Dr. Williams is driven by a burning desire to not only understand these issues but also collaborate with others to make a difference in the lives of individuals and organizations locally, nationally, and globally. Damon Williams is a national leader in the areas of inclusive excellence, strategic planning for diversity, academic engagement, and organizational change in higher education. He is considered by many to be among the nation’s leading experts on building sustainable diversity capabilities based upon his landmark research on chief diversity officers and examination of the diversity planning and implementation processes at colleges and universities, corporations, and non-profit organizations.

Some highlights of Dr. Williams’ leadership endeavors include the development of an on-going campus climate assessment program, executive diversity training for senior leadership, and general education diversity distribution requirement in collaboration with academic senate, as well as the establishment of a campus-wide “Leadership Diversity Institute” for key student leaders and marketing initiatives designed to reposition the university’s brand equity, both nationally and locally, with respect to diversity. During his tenure at the University of Connecticut, Dr. Williams secured more than $4 million in grant-funded resources specifically for increasing the recruitment and success of historically underrepresented, first-generation students and women studying in the areas of science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and the health professions. He served as co-principal investigator for the Northeastern Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) at a level of $1.5 million across five institutions. In addition, he was the co-principal investigator for the NSF-funded STEM preparatory grant project funded at $2 million with three Connecticut community colleges.

For the last three years, Dr. Williams has served as scholar-in-residence for the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU) Greater Expectations Leadership Development Institute. Additionally, he was the lead author for a Ford Foundation-funded monograph on the future of diversity work in higher education entitled, Toward a Model of Inclusive Excellence and Change in Higher Education. Dr. Williams is a member of the AACU Diversity Digest Advisory Board, and is co-principal investigator for the well-regarded “Chief Diversity Officer Study in Higher Education.” This research employed a mixed methodology design. Dr. Williams’ new book, The Chief Diversity Officer: Strategy, Structure, and Change Management, which he co-authored with Dr. Wade-Golden, is expected to be released in the spring of 2009 from Stylus Publishing Press. damon.williams@provost.wisc.edu

Lydia Villa-Komaroff
Paths to Discovery

Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Cytonome Inc.—Boston, Massachusetts. Author of Path to Discovery of On the Inside Looking in: a Life in Science an essay in Paths to Discovery Autobiographies from Chicanas with Careers in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering edited by Norma E. Cantu. Proceeds of book sales go to scholarships for Hispanic women in STEM.

Lydia Villa-Komaroff, CEO of Cytonome, Inc., a company building the first optical cell sorter capable of supporting rapid, sterile sorting of human cells for therapeutic use. She began her research career under the tutelage of David Baltimore and Harvey Lodish at MIT, and received a Ph.D. in Cell Biology in 1975. As a postdoctoral fellow in Walter Gilbert’s laboratory, she was lead author of a landmark paper reporting the first synthesis of mammalian insulin in bacterial cells. Her professional life includes research positions at Harvard University, the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Cold Spring Harbor, Children's Hospital in Boston, and Cytonome, Inc. During the discovery phase of her career, she published over 70 research articles and reviews. In 1996 she moved to full time administration; (1998-2003) she was Vice President for Research at Northwestern University in Illinois and (2003-2005) she served as Vice President for Research and Chief Operating Officer of the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge. In 2003 she was appointed to the Board of Directors of Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc (TKT), a biopharmaceutical company that developed products for the treatment of rare diseases. She became non-executive Chair of the Board in January 2005. She joined Cytonome, Inc. as Chief Scientific Officer in 2005 and became CEO in 2006. Villa-Komaroff is a member of the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Hall of Fame and a fellow of the Association for Women in Science. She has served on review committees for the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. She was a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Assessing the System for Protecting Human Research Subjects, the National Research Council Committee on the Structure of NIH, the congressionally mandated National Science Foundation Committee on Equal Opportunity in Science and Engineering, as well as the National Science Foundation Advisory Committee for the Biology Directorate, which she chaired from 1997-1998. She was a member of the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council (2000-2004) and was elected to a four year term on the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2001. She is a founding member of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science and has been both a board member and vice president of the organization. She became Chair of the Board of Trustees for Pine Manor College in May 2007. She is currently serving on the National Academies of Science and National Academy of Engineering Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine, the National Research Council Committee on Underrepresented Groups and the Expansion of the Science and Engineering Workforce Pipeline, and the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. The book Paths to Discovery, edited by Norma Cantu (2008). Published by Chicano Studies Research Center Press, University of California. It can be ordered online at www.store.chicano.ucla.edu Proceeds of book sales go to scholarships for Hispanic women in STEM.

Yen Le Espiritu
Critical Perspectives on Race, Immigration, and Asian America

Yen Le Espiritu, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California-San Diego—La Jolla, California yespirit@weber.ucsd.edu

Originally from Vietnam, Yen Le Espiritu received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1990. She is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, San Diego. She has written four books: Asian American Panethnicity: Bridging Institutions and Identities; Filipino American Lives; Asian American Women and Men: Labor, Laws, and Love; and Home Bound: Filipino American Lives Across Cultures, Communities, and Countries, three of which have received national book awards. Her current research projects explore the socio-emotional lives of children of immigrants from the Philippines and Vietnam, refugee communities in San Diego, public commemorations of the Vietnam War, and Vietnamese transnational lives.

Rev. C. T. Vivian
Building a Civil Rights Movement for the New Millennium

Reverend C. T. Vivian is a living legend of the Civil Rights Movement and he continues his activism today, tirelessly working for the progress of African Americans and the civil and political rights of all peoples. An uplifting speaker, he has addressed audiences in 42 states, 10 countries, and on countless campuses nationwide on the issues of civil rights, non-violence, racism and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with whom he worked for many years.
As a minister, educator, and community organizer, Reverend C.T. Vivian has been a tenacious advocate for civil rights since the 1940s. A Baptist minister, his first use of non-violent direct action was in 1947, to end Peoria's segregated lunch counters. Later he founded the Nashville Christian Leadership Conference, organizing the first sit-ins there in 1960 and the first civil rights march in 1961. Rev. Vivian was a rider on the first "Freedom Bus" into Jackson, Mississippi, and in the early 1960s, he developed a close relationship with Martin Luther King, Jr. and became a trusted leader within the organization, working alongside him on his Executive Staff. In 1966, Vivian moved to Chicago to direct the Urban Training Center for Christian Mission and the Coalition for United Community Action. He later founded the Black Strategies and Information Center (BASIC), the National Center for Human Rights Education, and co-founded with Anne Braden the Center for Democratic Renewal, formerly the National Anti-Klan Network. Reverend Vivian continues his activism today, tirelessly working for the progress of African Americans and the civil and political rights of all peoples.

NCORE would like to acknowledge the President’s Advisory Board on Inclusion and Diversity, and the Ethnic Studies Program at the University of San Diego’s Sponsorship for Reverend Vivian’s Participation and Presentation at NCORE 2009.

Patricia (Patty) Loew
Seeing Red: How Indigenous People Use the Media to Form Identity, Reconstruct the Past and Assert Their Sovereignty

Patricia Loew, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Life Sciences Communication, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Wisconsin; Producer, WHA-TV (PBS) and co-host of In Wisconsin (a weekly news and public affairs program that airs statewide on Wisconsin Public Television. paloew@wisc.edu

Patty Loew wants to change the role of Native Americans in the media. She feels that it is important for Natives to be involved in both local and mainstream media. According to Loew, this aspect of the media has taken a turn for the better over the last 20 years. This improvement is partially to thanks to several Native media organizations. As someone responsible for molding future members of the media, Loew says she wants to instill some of her enthusiasm for the news in her students. “I enjoy my career in television and I am still enthusiastic about it 35 years later,” said Loew. “For me, teaching is a second career, and I am really enjoying it.” Aside from teaching, Loew has written two textbooks about Native American history in the state of Wisconsin. She feels that they will provide both Native and non-Native people with a glimpse of history from a more Native point of view. Along with the textbooks, Loew has found time to produce the film Way of the Warrior. The one-hour documentary, chronicles the stories of Native American service in American wars. It examines the role and cultural meaning of Native American military service in the 20th Century. Patty Loew’s interests lie in television documentary production and Native American media, particularly how indigenous people use the media to form identity, reconstruct the past, and assert their sovereignty and treaty rights.

Film preview Way of the Warrior (Friday, May 29—10:00 a.m.–noon)

James A. Anderson
How to Promote Critical Discourse and Academic Outcomes About Diversity: Moving Up Another Level in Your Thinking

James A. Anderson, Ph.D.
Chancellor, and Chief Executive Officer
Fayetteville State University
Fayetteville, North Carolina

In addition to his administrative duties, James Anderson teaches and serves as a Professor in the Department of Psychology. As former Vice Provost and Vice President at the University of Albany in New York, Anderson was elected as Chancellor of Fayetteville State University by the Board of Governors of the multi-campus University of North Carolina. Over the past three decades, James Anderson has distinguished himself as a dedicated teacher, seasoned administrator, and proven leader. James Anderson has taught and held key leadership positions at some of the nation’s finest public universities (including North Carolina State University) and has earned a solid reputation for creative thinking, great integrity and a passionate commitment to helping students succeed academically and reach their full potential. He has previously served as a faculty member, department chair, dean, vice provost, and vice president at various institutions including: the University at Albany (SUNY), Texas A&M University, North Carolina State University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Xavier University in New Orleans.

Anderson’s research and writings have focused on cultural and racial differences across learning styles/cognitive styles, teaching effectiveness, student retention and persistence, diversity and student learning, outcomes-based assessment, and institutional effectiveness. He has served as an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow, a Danforth Fellow, and a National Learning Communities Fellow. He has been honored with the Outstanding Contribution to Higher Education Award (2005) from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and the Outstanding Service Award (2004) from the Commission on Human Resources and Social Change of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC). He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Villanova University and the advisory board of the International Center for Student Success and Institutional Accountability. Dr. Anderson has authored or co-authored several books including his most recent (2007): Driving Change Through Diversity and Globalism-Transformative Leadership in the Academy.

http://www.styluspub.com/Books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=89616

Robert Jacobsen
The University of California's Changing Admissions Policies:
Moving Beyond Rigid Measures of Eligibility

Robert Jacobsen, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Physics
University of California—Berkeley, California

Bob Jacobsen is past Chair of the campus Faculty Senate admissions committee, and serves as the campus representative to the systemwide Faculty Senate admissions committee (BOARS). He is currently Associate Dean for Undergraduate Advising in the campus College of Letters and Science.

Bob Jacobsen, received his B.S. from MIT and his Ph.D. from Stanford University. He spent 1976 through 1986 working in the computer and data communications industry for a small company that was successively bought out by larger and larger companies. He left in 1986 to return to graduate school in physics, obtaining his Ph.D. in experimental high energy physics from Stanford in 1991. He has been Scientific Associate and Scientific Staff physicist at CERN—a European Laboratory for Nuclear Physics—(1991-1994), in Geneva, Switzerland, and at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. He joined the faculty at Berkeley in 1995. He has been recognized several times for his teaching and mentoring, through the Rhoda H. Goldman Award for Distinguished Faculty Advising of Undergraduates and the Noyce Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in the College of Chemistry.

In addition to his regular teaching load, he teaches Physics 300, the Graduate Student Instructor Training course, and a Freshman Seminar, "The Stuff that Stuff is Made of." On the Physics evaluation form, the second question reads "What are your instructor's strength? (Preparation and organization of lectures, content of presentation, willingness to answer questions, attitude toward students, availability and usefulness of office hours, assignments, examinations, grading)." One student simply wrote, "All of the above." According to the Committee, "His classes are exhilarating, and his blackboard technique is astounding, like a painting." For Dr. Jacobsen’s research visit

http://www.physics.berkeley.edu/research/faculty/jacobsen.html

Patricia Williams
The Alchemy of Race and Rights

Patricia J. Williams, J.D., Mac Arthur Fellow, James L. Dohr Professor of Law, School of Law, Columbia University—Washington D.C.

Patricia J. Williams writes the monthly "Diary of a Mad Law Professor" for the Nation magazine.  Her wry, witty columns cover broad issues of social justice, including the rhetoric of the war on terror, race, ethnicity, gender, all aspects of civil rights law, bioethics and eugenics, forensic uses of DNA, and comparative issues of class and culture in the U.S., France, and Britain.  A graduate of Wellesley College and Harvard Law School, she has served on faculties of the University of Wisconsin School of Law, Harvard University's Women's Studies Program, and the City University of New York Law School at Queen's College. As a law professor, she has testified before congress, acted as a consultant and coordinator for a variety of public interest lawsuits, and served as a past member of the boards of the Center for  Constitutional Rights, of the Society of American Law Teachers, and of the Nation Organization for Women's Legal Defense and Education Fund.  She is the recipient of the Alumnae Achievement Award from Wellesley, the Graduate Society Medal from Harvard, and the MacArthur foundation “genius” grant.  Before entering academia, she practiced law, as a consumer advocate and Deputy City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles, and as a staff attorney for the Western Center on Law and Poverty. With an appreciation and support for multiculturalism and civil rights, she sits on several boards, including that of Wellesley College and the Andy Warhol Foundation.  She has authored numerous articles for scholarly journals and popular magazines and newspapers including USA Today, Harvard Law Review, Tikkun, the New York Times Book Review, The Nation, Ms. Magazine, and the Village Voice.  Her book, The Alchemy of Race and Rights, was named one of the twenty‑five best books of 1991 by the Voice Literary Supplement and one of the "feminist classics of the last twenty years" that "literally changed women's lives," by Ms. magazine's Twentieth Anniversary Edition.  Her newest book is titled Open House: Of Family, Friends, Food, Piano Lessons, and a Search for a Room of My Own—personal collection of stories, essays, anecdotes, and biography.  She has appeared on a variety of radio and television shows and has been a keynote speaker at numerous conferences. 

NCORE would like to acknowledge the American Program Bureau’s Sponsorship for Patricia Williams’ Participation and Presentation at NCORE 2009. 

Daniel G. Solórzano
Keeping Race in Place: Racial Microagressions
and Campus Racial Climate

Daniel G. Solórzano, Ph.D., Professor, Social Science and Comparative Education, Graduate School of Education, University of California—Los Angeles, California solorzao@gseis.ucla.edu

Dr. Solórzano teaching and research interests include: Critical race and gender theory in education, racial marginality and microaggressions in education, and race/ethnic, gender, and class relations with a special emphasis on the educational access, persistence, and graduation of Students of Color in the United States.

Norbert Hill
American Indians: Unfinished Business

Norbert S. Hill Jr., Oneida, Vice President, College of Menominee Nation-Green Bay Campus–Green Bay, Wisconsin

Norbert S. Hill Jr., served as the executive director of the American Indian Graduate Center (AIGC) in New Mexico, a nonprofit organization providing funding for American Indians and Alaska Natives to pursue graduate and professional degrees. Previous positions include; the executive director of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, assistant dean of students at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, and director of the American Indian Educational Opportunity Program at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He founded Winds of Change and The American Indian Graduate, magazine publications of AISES and AIGC respectively. Hill holds two honorary doctorates from Clarkson University (1996) and Cumberland College (1994). Current board appointments include Environmental Defense, the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, and the University of Colorado Graduate School Advisory Board. In addition, Hill has conducted diversity lectures and training for multi-national corporations and government agencies both domestically and internationally. Nhill@menominee.edu