University Diversity & Social Transformation Professorship (UDSTP)

Action Item (as stated with DEI strategic plan launch in 2016)

The university will establish a program to recruit and support faculty across campus and beyond whose research addresses diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues, with an emphasis on cutting-edge and next-generation scholarship. Designated as University Diversity & Social Transformation Professors (UDSTP), these faculty will be affiliated with the National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID). Through NCID’s Diversity Scholars Network, they will have access to special activities and resources for promoting and supporting their work, as well as to scholarly collaborations with diversity scholars.

Progress update
In Year Five, NCID continued to engage and support the work of current University Diversity and Social Transformation Professors (UDSTP), a cadre that now includes 18 U-M faculty across three cohorts. These high-achieving honorees represent the disciplines of art and design, history, sport management, public policy, social work, physics, biomedical engineering, psychology, dentistry, women’s and gender studies, education, management, electrical engineering and computer science.

NCID worked jointly with the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) in Year Five to oversee the nomination and selection of the third cohort of UDSTPs. Recipients were nominated by a U-M dean, selected by a university committee and recommended by the provost for this distinction. The four faculty members recommended for this honor in 2021 are Lilia M. Cortina, professor of psychology and of women’s and gender studies in LSA, and a professor of management and organizations in the Stephen M. Ross School of Business; Trachette L. Jackson, professor of mathematics in LSA; Hitomi Tonomura, professor of history and of women’s and gender studies in LSA; and Herbert G. Winful, an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Joseph E. and Anne P. Rowe Professor of Electrical Engineering and professor of electrical engineering and computer science in the College of Engineering, and professor of physics in LSA. The U-M Board of Regents approved the appointments July 15.

In Year Five, NCID also continued to partner with the Center for Academic Innovation (CAI) to develop a series of videos aimed at elevating and disseminating the work of UDST professors. Production is scheduled to begin in fall 2021.  

As part of its ongoing work to connect and build community among UDSTPs, NCID and ODEI hosted a meeting of past recipients. In addition, several of the faculty  were invited to share their work at bimonthly NCID community meetings. Also in Year Five, NCID and the ODEI launched an annual UDSTP lecture series, with the inaugural lecture delivered by UDST Professor Susan Dynarski on the topic of “Understanding the Effect of the HAIL Scholarship on Student Decisions.”

Responsibility: National Center for Institutional Diversity