Dear Colleagues:
I am writing to recognize the outstanding contributions Dr. Paula Pedersen has made to the University of Minnesota Duluth and to update you on the next steps of our work in equity, diversity, and inclusion. After thirty years of full-time service, Paula is retiring from UMD on March 2, and we will miss the many ways in which she has shared her talents with our students, faculty, and staff.
Paula began teaching at UMD as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in 1986 and since then has served as a Teaching Specialist, Instructor, Assistant Professor, and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the UMD Department of Psychology and with the University of Minnesota Medical School Duluth. In 2013, she joined my office as Faculty Fellow for Intercultural Initiatives, which was later titled Faculty Fellow for Equity and Inclusion. In 2017, she began serving as the Director of Education for Inclusive Excellence.
She has published and presented at numerous national conferences in areas such as intercultural development, pedagogy, assessing intercultural effectiveness, and many others. She is a sought-after speaker and trainer on many aspects of diversity and inclusion, intercultural pedagogy, intercultural leadership development, pedagogy, and the integration of intercultural effectiveness into the curriculum.
Paula is a major force in moving us forward in our pursuit of a more welcoming, diverse, and inclusive campus. She challenged us to address our own personal work, particularly focused on our individual intercultural development. Her collaborations with Susana Pelayo-Woodward and with many of you across campus have been outstanding, and she will be difficult to replace. I am restructuring this position and exploring options for the position specifications. I will share details once the position is defined. I envision this position will have a strong academic focus and partnership with Susana Pelayo-Woodward’s work on inclusive excellence, as well as with units in both Academic Affairs and Student Life. A major goal of these partnerships will be to integrate Goal 2 more fully into the UMD curriculum and co-curricular activities.
I will miss working with Paula and wish her the best in the next phase of her life journey. Please join me in thanks and celebration of Paula for her many years of outstanding service to UMD on Monday, March 2, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Kirby Rafters.
Sincerely,
Chancellor Black
