Lung-Amam one of ten emerging faculty nation-wide recognized for her work to foster campus inclusion
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation has named Assistant Professor of Urban Studies and Planning Dr. Willow Lung-Amam a 2017 Nancy Weiss Malkiel Scholar. Dr. Lung-Amam is one of ten emerging faculty from programs nationwide recognized for their efforts to foster inclusive campus communities as academic leaders.
Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Malkiel Scholars Award supports junior faculty whose research focuses on contemporary American history, politics, culture and society, and who are committed to the creation of an inclusive campus community for underrepresented students and scholars. Each Malkiel Scholar will receive a 12-month award of $17,500 while working toward tenure.
“Willow has dedicated her expertise, teaching and research to forward diversity, equity and inclusion, and to bring to light voices that might not otherwise be heard,” said Sonia Hirt, Dean of the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. “It is outstanding to see her efforts recognized by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.”
Dr. Lung-Amam is currently finishing a National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship at American University. Her book, entitled, Trespassers?: Asian Americans and the Battle for Suburbia, will be published by the University of California Press this month. In addition to serving the Urban Studies and Planning Program, Dr. Lung-Amam is also faculty with National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education, where she is engaged in a number of other projects related to housing, community development and equity planning. She is a prominent and active member of the university’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, serving as a diversity and inclusion officer as well as a member of the Maryland Diversity Dialogues Implementation Team in 2016.
“These are exceptional scholars, every one of them doing impressive work in a field related to 20th-century history, civil rights and gender issues,” said Stephanie J. Hull, Ph.D., the program’s director and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. “Yet all have faced the well-documented pressures that the academy places disproportionately on women and people of color—to serve on additional committees, mentor more students and take on other kinds of service that, while important, may hinder their own work. This award is designed to assist them in balancing their commitments while continuing to progress toward tenure.”
The 2017 Malkiel Scholars represent a developing class of scholars in the humanities and social sciences who are poised—like the program’s namesake—to play a significant role in shaping American higher education.
For more information on the Malkiel Scholars Award program, visit www.woodrow.org/nwm.