Libra Visiting Diversity Professor to lecture on inclusive excellence Sept. 26
Inclusive excellence in academia and developing strategic leadership skills among the millennial and centennial generations will be the focus of a keynote address by the University of Maine 2018 Libra Visiting Diversity Professor.
Damon Williams, a founding architect of the inclusive excellence model for postsecondary institutions, will join the UMaine community Sept. 26–27 as the 2018 Libra Visiting Diversity Professor. Williams will meet with students and student leaders, faculty and administration as part of an inclusive excellence residency, and will offer a public presentation, “From Awareness to Action, to Innovation: Empowering Leaders Through Inclusive Excellence,” on Sept. 26 at 5 p.m. in the McIntire Room of the Buchanan Alumni House.
The keynote address will highlight evidence-based best practices for achieving inclusive excellence in academia, a critical first step in motivating development of strategic leadership skills among the millennial and centennial generations. For more information on the event or to request a reasonable accommodation, call 581.3494.
Williams is renowned for his work in diversity leadership, having consulted with more than 1,000 colleges and universities, Fortune 100 companies, private foundations and government agencies. As an educator, he established the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he served as the associate vice chancellor, vice provost, and chief diversity officer from 2008–13.
Williams co-founded the “Journal of Diversity in Higher Education,” a publication of the American Psychological Association, in 2008, and co-authored “The Chief Diversity Officer: Strategy Structure, and Change Management” (2013), the first publication to define the emerging role of CDO and to provide guidance on the development of diversity infrastructures in academia.
He also has been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2017 University of Michigan Bicentennial Award of Leadership, the 2017 Western Reserve Academy Waring Prize, and the 2013 National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education Inclusive Excellence Award of Leadership.
Williams’ UMaine residency has been organized by the Rising Tide Center in partnership with Academic Affairs, the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, and the Inclusive Excellence Community of Practice Working Group, and with support from the University of Maine System Libra Professorships Fund.