Nineteen UW–Madison community members were recognized in Madison365’s annual list of “Wisconsin’s Most Influential Asian American Leaders” for 2024, including four who are current and former UW–Madison School of Education students and employees.
Madison365, a nonprofit online news publication, has published annual power lists recognizing Wisconsin leaders from different racial and ethnic groups since 2015. The purpose of the lists is to “highlight the beauty of the diversity across our state,” according to Henry Sanders Jr., the co-founder, publisher, and chief executive officer of Madison365.
The following individuals with School of Education ties were honored by Madison365 in this year’s list:
Stacey J. Lee is the School of Education’s associate dean for education and the Frederick Erickson WARF Professor of Educational Policy Studies. She also is a faculty affiliate in Asian American Studies and has authored “Unraveling the Model Minority Stereotype: Listening to Asian American Youth,” “Up Against Whiteness: Race, School and Immigrant Youth,” and “Resisting Asian American Invisibility: The Politics of Race and Education.” Her research focuses on the role of education in the incorporation of immigrants and migrants into the U.S. In 2016, she won the Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Educational Research Association and the Vilas Mid-Career Investigator Award from the University of Wisconsin in 2015 and 2016.
Sara Lam earned a PhD from the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction and today is vice president of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC), where she leads efforts to strengthen NWTC as a culturally sustaining college where all students feel they belong, achieve success, and are empowered to take action for positive change. Prior to joining the college, Lam held various DEI roles at University of Minnesota Morris in teaching, research, and service. She is a co-founder of the Rural China Education Foundation, a published author, and holds national accolades for her work around educational equality.
Chundou Her is a graduate student in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, researching the intersection of storytelling, youth activism, art, transformative justice, and participatory methods. Through this work, the goal is to develop strategies, patterns, and pedagogy that can be incorporated into the classroom which works towards a liberation-based education versus conformity-based education. Her has presented at a number of national education research conferences.
Susan Tran Degrand earned a master’s degree from the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis in 2012, with an emphasis on higher education. Since then, she has worked in higher education and has diverse experiences across functional, institutional areas supporting individual, programmatic, and systems-level approaches to embedding and operationalizing equity, diversity, and inclusion. Tran Degrand currently serves as the director for Equity, Inclusion & Employee Well-Being for UW–Madison’s Office of Human Resources. In this role she provides leadership, strategic vision and consultation for schools, colleges, divisions, and departments on campus as they work to support their employees through an equitable, and human-centered lens.
Learn more about “Wisconsin’s 38 Most Influential Asian American Leaders for 2024” including all of the featured UW–Madison faculty, staff, and alumni.