UNH Today

Monica Chiu has been named interim associate vice president for community, equity and diversity. She assumed the position July 16. 

"I am grateful for Monica’s willingness to serve UNH in this critical capacity."

Chiu is a professor of English and a COLA Excellence in Teaching Award recipient. In her past leadership roles, she served as co-chair of the President’s Commission on the Status of People of Color, chair of the English department’s Diversity Committee and director of the University Honors Program (2008-2011). She has won campus-wide and regional awards for her commitment to diversity, including the President's Excellence Through Diversity Faculty Award (2008) and the Social Justice Award for Faculty Groups, recognizing her Ford Foundation-supported work on diversity and pedagogy (2007).

“I am grateful for Monica’s willingness to serve UNH in this critical capacity, and I look forward to working with her in advance of our students’ return in the fall,” President James Dean says.

The organization New Hampshire Women in Higher Education Leadership presented Chiu with an Emerging Professional Award in 2008. She is a 2008 graduate of the HERS Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration at Wellesley College and is currently chairing an NSF-funded committee on the recruitment of women and underrepresented faculty in sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Chiu specializes in Asian American studies, with a current focus on Asian American graphic narratives and manga. Her monographs include “Filthy Fictions: Asian American Literature by Women” (Alta Mira, 2004) and “Scrutinized! Surveillance in Asian North American Literature” (University of Hawai'i Press, 2014).