Duke Faculty Embark on a Leadership Journey With Ivy+ Peers

Six Duke scholars who hold leadership positions in their schools have been selected for Ivy+ fellowships to build skills in academic leadership. They will take part in the Institute on Inquiry, Equity and Leadership in the Academic Department, organized by the Ivy+ Faculty Advancement Network, alongside peers from a dozen other universities.

This experience is part of Duke Faculty Advancement’s suite of programs providing support, engagement and professional development opportunities for current and prospective faculty leaders.

Following a kickoff in September at Princeton, participants will meet virtually through March to explore systems shaping the academic profession and how faculty can influence it. The Duke cohort will pursue ideas that advance the university’s commitment to inclusive excellence and directly benefit their own departments and disciplines. In April, Duke will host the capstone event for all participants.

2024-2025 Duke Ivy+ Provost Leadership Fellows

Lisa Huettel

Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. School Professor of the Practice of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education, Pratt School of Engineering

Jacquelyn McMillian-Bohler

Assistant Clinical Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Innovation and Evaluation, School of Nursing

Jian Pei

Arthur S. Pearse Distinguished Professor and Chair of Computer Science, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Jen’nan Read

Professor and Chair of Sociology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Charlotte Sussman

Professor and Chair of English, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Jennifer Clare Woods

Associate Professor and Chair of Classical Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Perspectives on the Experience

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Last year’s Duke Ivy+ Provost Leadership Fellows were Katherine Brading (Philosophy), Darren Gobert (Theater Studies), Jennifer Nash (Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies) and Jay Pearson (Public Policy). Lauren Ginsberg (Classical Studies) was named the inaugural Duke Ivy+ Mellon Leadership Fellow for a two-year term.

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“The program allowed me to meet faculty from universities around the country who share an interest in creating equitable working environments where we can all produce our best work,” said Nash.

“Our conversations were productively staged across our disciplinary and institutional differences, and were always underpinned by a shared commitment to inclusion.”

Nash added that she “found the program’s attention to the aspects of university life that are often discussed privately but rarely accounted for publicly — like service workloads — to be of particular value. As a department chair, the Ivy+ program gave me tangible tools I can deploy to create a workplace culture that doesn’t simply talk about equity, but that seeks to enact it.”

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Gobert also appreciated the interactions with peers beyond Duke. “More than anything, the Ivy+ Provost Fellowship gave me the opportunity to talk with and learn from my colleagues from similar institutions — my subgroup included arts chairs from Cornell, Dartmouth, MIT, Princeton and Yale — about the challenges we face in higher education leadership as well as the solutions we can propose at our institutions,” he said. “Those experiences and connections have already proven invaluable.”

In MemoriAm

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Joseph Izatt, who was the Michael J. Fitzpatrick Professor of Engineering and chair of Duke’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, passed away on April 7, 2024. He had been selected as an Ivy+ Provost Leadership Fellow and participated for most of the academic year.

In a message to the Duke Engineering community, Dean Jerome Lynch celebrated Izatt’s career and leadership: “He was an exceptionally thoughtful leader who weighed every decision with a care that originated with his deep love for the BME community. The integrity and humility he brought as a school leader will be missed.”

Main image: First row: Lisa Huettel, Jacquelyn McMillian-Bohler, Jian Pei; second row: Jen’nan Read, Charlotte Sussman, Jennifer Clare Woods