2023-2024 Department Head Development Fellows Cohort
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Home Academic Unit: Department of Hospitality, Hotel Management and Tourism, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Brief Bio: Brian King, Ph.D. is Professor and Department Head in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences. Prior to coming to Texas A&M University to serve in this role, King was Associate Dean in the School of Hotel & Tourism at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He was previously Professor at Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia where he held various Faculty and University-wide roles including Head of the School of Hospitality Tourism and Marketing, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Industry and Community) and then Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students). Originally from Scotland, Professor King has worked in the tourism field all his professional life linking academia and practice in Europe, Australasia, the Pacific and Hong Kong.
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Home Academic Unit: Department of Educational Psychology, School of Education & Human Development
Brief Bio: Jeffrey Liew is a Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology in the School of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University. He is a developmental and learning scientist, and has been nationally and internationally recognized for his expertise on social-emotional development and emotional self-regulation processes in early childhood to early adulthood. A major strand of Liew’s research focuses on individuals’ resilience, thriving, and flourishing, including the risk and protective or promotive factors that are linked to developmental and academic or learning outcomes.
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Home Academic Unit: Department of Architecture, School of Architecture
Brief Bio: Dr. Gregory Luhan, FAIA is the Ward V. Wells Endowed Professor of Architecture and the Department Head at Texas A&M University. Dr. Luhan is a nationally recognized architect, scholar, author, professor, and academic leader whose work investigates how design, emerging digital technologies, critical theory, pedagogy, practice, and academic-industry partnerships intersect. His doctoral research and dissertation validated the effectiveness of co-created learning within collaborative architectural design studios. Before his appointment at Texas A&M, Dr. Luhan was the John Russell Groves Endowed Professor of Architecture at the University of Kentucky College of Design-School of Architecture and a University Research Professor at the Lewis Honors College, the College of Engineering Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments.
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Home Academic Unit: Department of Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning, School of Architecture
Brief Bio: Dr. Galen D. Newman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University (TAMU). At Texas A&M, he also serves as Department Head and Director of the Center for Housing and Urban Development. Historically, he has also served as Coordinator of the Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional Planning and Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Programs. He is also Past President of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) and served as both Vice President for Research and Creative Scholarship and Track Chair for CELA. His research interests include urban regeneration, land use science, spatial analytics, community flood resilience, and community/urban scaled design. His current research focuses on the integration of urban regeneration and urban flood resilience. His work has been published in more than 90 high quality peer-reviewed outlets including the Journal of the American Planning Association (JAPA), Landscape and Urban Planning, Environment and Planning B, Landscape Research, and Cities.
The Department Head Development Fellows program is aligned with Faculty Affairs goals of supporting academic department head success, especially with respect to engaging faculty and the academic enterprise. Fellows, therefore, must be willing to dedicate the time necessary to accomplish the activities involved.
- Individually or in pairs, design programming to address issues relevant to Texas A&M Department Heads (e.g. lunch workshops and/or longer form workshop experiences).
- As a cohort, serve as both a focus group and as contributors to a project to redesign guidance materials and our website experience for Department Heads.
- Participate with fellows from other initiatives in the Academic Leadership Academy hosted by Faculty Affairs. Applicants must be available to meet 12-2 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month during the fall and spring semesters. Leadership learning community involves monthly sessions wherein current and aspiring leaders examine their strengths, discuss timely challenges, explore leadership approaches, and expand their networks. Members of the learning community, from this and other fellowship programs hosted in Faculty Affairs are invited to a Leadership Fellows dinner September 28, 2023.
Fellows may participate for one or two years depending on continued mutual interest. All resulting program projects (short or long-form workshops or experiences) will be supported administratively and financially by our office. Fellows will receive a $5,000 professional development bursary for each year they serve. Further, as interested, faculty affairs will support access to executive coaching during the fellowship period.
The Department Head Development Fellows Application
When Faculty Affairs announces the call for applications (August 2024) seeking a cohort of up to six new fellows, the following application materials are necessary to apply:
1. Cover letter containing a brief Challenge Statement and Personal Narrative: In one page or less:
- provide a rationale for your interest in participating in a leadership learning community experience
- describe an important challenge you expect many department heads face for which you would like to assist in the design of programming or resources
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email Dr. Heather Wilkinson directly at h-wilkinson@tamu.edu.