Telepeer

CSUF faculty member honored with prestigious leadership award

April 27, 2023

By Nicole Gregory, contributing writer

Ding-Jo Currie, distinguished faculty member in the Higher Educational Leadership Program at Cal State Fullerton, was honored with the Leadership Award and inducted into the Leadership Hall of Fame by the American Association of Community Colleges earlier this month, in recognition of her career in developing the quality of leadership in students.

The award is given to retired community college presidents or chancellors who have made outstanding contributions to the sector, said Martha Parham, senior vice president of the Washington D.C.-based AACC.

“I’m very humbled by it,” Currie said of the award. But she is very much a worthy recipient according to people who know her.

Currie’s career in higher education spans more than 40 years. When she retired as the first female chancellor of Coast Colleges in 2011, Currie came to Cal State Fullerton, where she founded the Leadership Institute for Tomorrow.

“Dr. Currie is a major advocate for the underrepresented and least advantaged in our communities,” said Chi-Chung Keung, director of news media services and senior communications counsel at Cal State Fullerton. “She works tirelessly to educate local and global leaders to understand the needs and challenges of those less fortunate.”

“She is incredibly friendly and down-to-earth and has an amazing way of seeing the potential not just in students, but also just in people in general,” Parham said. “So, she’s able to inspire people to greater heights, to better things for their career.”

Born and raised in a rural area of Taiwan in a home surrounded by rice paddies, Currie remembered her mother taking her to nursery school over a long, swaying footbridge, high above a rushing river, when she was just 4 years old. After accompanying her just twice, Currie’s mother told her daughter to go by herself, an experience that taught the girl about fear and courage.

Currie came to the U.S. with her sister as a teenager and went on to receive her bachelor’s degree from Manchester University in North Manchester, Ind., a master’s degree from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and a doctorate in intercultural and international education from the University of Southern California.

Currie was inducted into the Leadership Hall of Fame at the American Association of Community Colleges Conference in Denver. (Courtesy of CSUF News Media Services)

Leadership means more than managing a big budget or supervising others, Currie said. “We feel that developing good leaders is about developing excellent quality characteristics. To be a leader, first is character development. How do you develop your own integrity capital? How do you develop compassion? How do you develop all those characteristics that are important?

“I am also proud to have served on the board for Air University of the Air Force, for which I received the Commander’s Award, the highest award a civilian can receive. It was my privilege and honor to have served the United States Air Force as a civilian,” she said.

Even with her many achievements, Currie continually works to improve herself, with questions such as, “How did I do today? How could I do better tomorrow?” she said. “I think that’s a healthy process. I always say, ‘Can I do this?’ Raising that question to yourself, it’s a good process of self-reflection.”

She encourages her students to do the same, “not to be stuck in the past, but to use the past to propel you moving forward,” she said.

“Then they begin to have that process of this making a new version of themselves by chiseling away the rough edges and cutting the diamond,” she said. “Then they have that brilliance. To me, outside of the medical field, education is the most rewarding. In medicine, people save lives. We do, too. People ask me, ‘What kind of work do you do?’ I say, ‘I’m in the life transformation business.’ ”

Keung says Currie is effective because she identifies with students. “Her story as an international student, as a woman and minority college administrator, and as someone who learned English as a second language, helps her identify with many of the students that come to her for advice and encouragement,” he said.

Developing leaders for community colleges is critical to Currie. “In the leadership institute that I direct, it’s about rising the tide for community college leadership,” she said. “This is the part that really brings me joy — cultivating future leaders.”

Over the years, Currie has often been approached by former students who say she inspired them to become leaders. “They say, ‘Look at me — I’m the president. I wanted to tell you.’ That’s really what I’m proud of.”

Local News |

Art collective making a difference behind prison walls

Local News |

Study: Pandemic-related mental health issues linger

Local News |

Dissecting the marketing success of Taylor Swift

Local News |

CSUF’s Table Talk focuses on empowering Asian communities

Local News |

CSUF food pantry collaborates with community partners

Orange County Register

News Details

CSUF faculty member honored with prestigious leadership award

Related Articles

News

CONTACT INFO

QUICK LINKS

SERVICES

CURRENT NEWS