Mai Thi Nguyen, associate professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning and director of the Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program at UNC-Chapel Hill, has been named as director of the Academic Leadership Program (ALP) beginning July 1. Created in 2002, the program helps support current and emerging academic leaders by developing leadership skills, clarifying career commitments, and helping Fellows build a leadership network within and beyond the University.
“Participating in ALP has been a highlight of my professional career because it is transformative. It has been transformative for me personally, and for every other ALP alumnus that I’ve spoken to,” said Nguyen. She will replace Suzanne Gulledge who directed the ALP since 2016.
Nguyen was an ALP Fellow in 2019-20 and has participated in nearly all of the faculty programs the Institute offers. If she has to choose, she picks ALP as her favorite. From 2016-2019, Nguyen also served as program director of the IAH New Faculty Program.
“Anyone who knows or works with Mai Nguyen, as I have this year in our 2019-20 cohort, will attest to her work ethic and visionary acuity – not to mention her warm affability and sense of humor,” said Gulledge. “Those are important attributes for an ALP director.”
Taking from her experience as a Fellow, Nguyen hopes to continue the tradition of comradery and the process of ALP cohorts moving from strangers to trusted friends and colleagues. In her position as director, she will be joined by Rob Kramer, senior leadership consultant for the IAH, to conduct the weekly seminars. Faculty will discuss critical issues facing the University and formulate possible responses, while also taking a humanistic approach to leadership by growing their interpersonal skills and building the capacity for introspection, emotional intelligence, and fostering a community of peers.
“The way that Suzanne Gulledge and Rob Kramer facilitated the relationship building is extraordinary,” said Nguyen. “I’ve learned that you get as much as you give to this program, and if your entire cohort truly leans in, then you are in for an incredible journey.”
To learn more Nguyen’s research, listen to “The Institute” podcast where she has been interviewed in 2017 and 2019.
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Written by Sophia Ramos
The Institute for the Arts and Humanities empowers faculty to achieve their full potential by creating community and cultivating leadership.
The IAH supports its mission through its Faculty Fellows Program; by sponsoring conferences, lectures, and public conversations.
Original link: https://iah.unc.edu/mai-thi-nguyen-named-director-of-the-academic-leadership-program/