Dr. Shannon B. Lundeen Named the Next HERS Director of Programs
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Shannon B. Lundeen will become the next HERS Director of Programs effective May 3, 2022.
Dr. Shannon B. Lundeen will be responsible for HERS program service development and delivery, HLI admissions, and assessment. Throughout her seventeen years in academic affairs leadership, she has worked in a variety of ways to advance equity and promote inclusive excellence in higher education. After earning her PhD in philosophy with a graduate certificate in women’s studies from Stony Brook University in 2005, Dr. Lundeen served as the Associate Director of both the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program (GSWS) and the Alice Paul Center for Research on Gender, Sexuality, and Women at the University of Pennsylvania. In these roles she taught in and developed new curriculum for the undergraduate and graduate certificate program in GSWS, organized several conferences and three annual endowed speaker series through the Center, secured the Center’s first postdoctoral fellow through a Mellon grant, established the GSWS graduate student pedagogy seminar series, and cultivated strategic partnerships with academic partners and colleagues within Penn’s twelve schools and across campus in Penn’s identity and cultural resource centers. For six of her eight years at Penn, Lundeen lived in residence in a first-year college house serving as a faculty fellow and living-learning community advisor, an experience that gave her the tools to develop a holistic and inclusive approach to educating, mentoring, and supporting students.
In 2013, Lundeen became the Director of the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women at Case Western Reserve University where she was appointed to the faculty in the School of Medicine (Bioethics) and the College of Arts and Sciences (Philosophy). In her role as Director, Lundeen provided overall leadership for the Center for Women, supervising professional and student staff, raising funds, assessing programmatic impact, and providing university guidance in policies, practices, resources, and services related to women, gender equity, sexual misconduct, and women’s leadership. As the Director, Lundeen was responsible for working with other colleagues and experts at the university to direct two annual leadership institutes—one for women faculty and one for women staff. Lundeen planned programs and events aimed at advancing gender equity not only within the university community but also in surrounding Cleveland communities. Under her leadership, the Center celebrated its tenth anniversary raising more funds than any other single event in the Center’s history.
Intrigued by the innovative, experiential, and holistic approach to undergraduate education at Elon University, Lundeen left CWRU to become Elon’s inaugural Director of Academic-Residential Partnerships and Associate Professor of philosophy in 2015. In this role, Lundeen has created an evidence-based strategic vision for living and learning at Elon that fosters integrative learning and enhances students’ sense of belonging. Serving as a director in the office of the provost, Lundeen has been able to play a key role in developing more inclusive curricula, creating accessible and culturally responsive residential environments, and diversifying students’ experiential learning opportunities. Through her professional service and scholarship, Lundeen has helped Elon gain a national reputation for the high-impact practice of residential learning communities. She has served on over twenty-four university-wide cross-divisional committees and task forces while at Elon including co-chairing both the Women’s Forum employee resource group and the Sexual Assault and Gender Issues Council (SAGIC) and serving on the Inclusive Community Council and the Council for Diversity and Inclusion Content Experts. In these roles, she has helped shape more inclusive practices and policies and expanded resources and services to members of minoritized and historically excluded identity groups. Finally, in the classroom, whether teaching an introductory gender studies section, an advanced philosophy course, or a global study-abroad class, Lundeen has helped her students learn how to take an intersectional approach to analyzing and addressing social injustices and structural inequities.
Lundeen will be relocating to Denver this summer with her family: her three sons, Paxton (14), Harley (11), and Phoenix (4), her partner, her mother, the gregarious family Aussiedoodle and the aloof family cat. They are all looking forward to enjoying the mile-high city and exploring the Colorado Rockies.
