Trio Selected for Leadership Program

Three Huntley College of Agriculture faculty were selected for a prestigious national agricultural leadership program.

Professor Eileen Cullen, Associate Professor Hyungchul Han, and Professor Olive Li were chosen to participate in Leadership for the 21^st Century (LEAD21). They are among 90 participants selected from around the country.

Cullen is chair of the Department of Plant Science, while Han and Li are from the Department of Animal and Veterinary Science and the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, respectively.

LEAD21 is intended to meet the future needs for leadership development of faculty, specialists, program and team leaders, research station and center directors, district and regional directors, department heads and chairs, and others in land grant universities’ colleges of agricultural, environmental, and human sciences and USDA/NIFA. 

The program is also open to Non-Land-Grant Agriculture and Renewable Resources Universities (NARRU) as well as Hispanic Serving Institutions (HIS) such as Cal Poly Pomona with colleges in the areas mentioned above.

Participants attend three sessions and complete a concurrent individual learning component.

Among the leadership skills that participants develop are communication, managing conflict, fostering collaboration, leading change, leading with integrity and values, developing self and others, valuing diversity, and developing a deeper knowledge and appreciation of higher education.

Last year, Associate Professor Joanne Sohn of the Department of Animal and Veterinary Science, and Professor Muditha Senanayake, chair of the Department of Apparel Merchandising and Management, participated in the program.

Cal Poly Pomona participants received a total of $20,000 in scholarship funding from LEAD21 to cover the cost of the program this year and in 2022. 

"By supporting this professional development opportunity, we are making an investment in faculty leadership in the Huntley College," Interim Dean Martin Sancho-Madriz said.