I am excited to announce that Anju Reejhsinghani will serve as campus’ first-ever Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Her first day on campus is set for Sept. 12.
Anju is a strong and welcome addition to our campus community. She brings a wealth of professional experience in diversity, equity and inclusion work, both in the college classroom as an educator and as a senior leader. She comes to us from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where she served most recently as Assistant Vice Provost for Strategic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Administration. Before entering higher education leadership, she was a tenured associate professor in the Department of History and International Studies at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point.
Understanding the nuanced perspectives of the many groups that make up our campus community is critical to successful DEI work. Anju’s broad experience with varied constituencies will help immensely as she partners with people around our campus to create a more welcoming and equitable institution. At UW Madison, she reported directly to the university’s chief diversity officer and oversaw numerous units engaged in various DEI-related efforts, among other duties. She holds a Ph.D. and a master’s degree, both in history, from the University of Texas at Austin. She earned a diploma in economics from the London School of Economics & Political Science, and a bachelor of arts in history from Princeton University.
The VC DEI position, which encompasses serving as our Chief Diversity Officer and includes overseeing the campus Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, reports directly to the chancellor.
I am grateful for the work of Judith Estrada, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, who has served as interim Chief Diversity Officer since last summer. She will continue as the office’s assistant vice chancellor.
I also would like to thank the search advisory committee for its work in reviewing candidates. We had an exceptionally strong group of finalists. Thank you, as well, to the many in our campus community who provided valuable feedback during the search process. The input was extremely helpful.
Please join me in welcoming Anju and congratulating her on becoming a Banana Slug!
