Kiernan Mathews is Executive Director of the Faculty Advancement Network
Dr. Kiernan R. Mathews, Executive Director
mathews@uchicago.edu
After a rigorous search process, Kiernan R. Mathews, Ed.D., was invited to be the inaugural Executive Director of the Faculty Advancement Network (FAN) beginning in April 2021. According to Aly Kassam-Remtulla, FAN Steering Committee Co-Chair, the members of the consortium were drawn to Kiernan for his extensive experience working on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion; his strong track record of successfully partnering with provosts, deans, and chairs to identify and improve outcomes for their faculty members; his demonstrated success as a creative and entrepreneurial thinker; and his expertise building and sustaining consortia.
For over 15 years, Kiernan has advised university leaders and policymakers on multi-institutional strategies to recruit, retain and advance a more diverse faculty. His research and writing have explored the faculty experience and leadership of the academic enterprise, with particular emphasis on equity, inclusion, data, and the effective engagement of all faculty in organizational change.
Previously, Kiernan was the Executive Director and Principal Investigator of the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and founding Educational Chair of the Seminars on Leadership of the Faculty at the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education. While at Harvard, he won two Menges Awards for Outstanding Research in Educational Development from the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education. Kiernan is currently a board member at the Association for Collaboration Leadership (ACL), regularly serves on advisory boards and conference panels, and teaches in the HGSE institute, Bravely Confronting Racism. Prior to his work in the academy, he launched digital projects in education at Routledge and LEGO. He holds a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s from Harvard, and a bachelor of arts from the University of Houston.
Dustin Liu, Assistant Director of Leadership Programs
dustinliu@uchicago.edu
Dustin Liu joined FAN in 2024 as Assistant Director of Leadership Programs. Reporting to Kiernan Mathews, Executive Director, Dustin supports the Institute on Inquiry, Equity & Leadership in the Academic Department, and the Ivy+ Mellon Leadership Fellows program.
Outside of his work at FAN, Dustin continues his role as a Lecturer at Stanford University teaching at the Stanford Life Design Lab and the d.school. His career has been focused in higher education, previously serving as a Research Associate at Ashoka U studying institutional change and most recently as the Interim Director of Social Innovation Programs at MIT.
Dustin received an Ed.M. in Higher Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.S. in Industrial & Labor Relations from Cornell University’s ILR School.
Dustin Liu is Assistant Director of Leadership Programs for the Faculty Advancement Network