| Dr. Rita Hartung Cheng became the 16th president of Northern Arizona University more than three years ago. Almost immediately, she made her mark in the community, taking several leadership roles in the community, including a seat on the ECoNA Executive Board. We talked recently with her about her background, the highlights of her time as president of NAU and a new free speaker series at the university beginning this semester. Below are some highlights. You can see the entire interview here.
You were a nontraditional college student in many ways, weren’t you? Absolutely! I was following my husband [Thomas Kwan Cheng, faculty at NAU’s Center for Business Outreach] as he pursued his career, which meant that I attended five universities in four states before earning my degree. After that came an MBA from the University of Rhode Island and then I entered the doctoral program at Temple University while I was raising our children.
How did your academic career begin? I ultimately decided to devote my career to higher education because it transformed my life, and I see how it changes lives every day. I started at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee as a faculty member. I was there for more than 20 years and ultimately became Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. After that, I served as Chancellor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
You’ve been president for more than three years now. What are you most proud of during your tenure? How our team has grown an already strong academic and research mission. Our 30,000 students throughout the state of Arizona and 4,600 employees have a tremendous economic impact – nearly $1.6 billion every year. Our research expenditures have grown by 25 percent to $40 million and our overall enrollment has jumped by about 10 percent. We’re quickly moving toward our goal of becoming the leading university serving Native Americans.
Why is it important for you to be part of ECoNA? Part of that is personal and part of it has to do with the unique role Northern Arizona University plays in the region. On the personal side, I truly believe it is important to give back, whether that means volunteering or serving on community boards, and I try to live by that value. On the institutional side, Northern Arizona University fits naturally with the goals of ECoNA. As a regional economic driver and a center for creative expertise, NAU enthusiastically embraces its role as a partner in producing innovative research and highly skilled graduates that benefit our community and our state.
You’ll be launching a president’s speakers series tomorrow. Tell us about that. The goal of the distinguished speaker series is to bring intellectual leaders, people who have in-depth knowledge on a particular topic, to our campus to share their insights. The speakers series is free and open to the public, which was very important to me. We wanted to make sure that everyone in our community would have a chance to hear these experts, not just those who can afford a ticket.
To see the full interview with Dr. Cheng, click HERE. to find out more about the Distinguished Speaker Series, click HERE. |
