Jeannie Kim

My journey in higher education began 37 years ago when I was an undergraduate at UCLA, where I got involved with student government and learned how higher education functions from a student perspective. As a student leader, I was in the right place at the right time when the community service movement was exploding after the 1984 Pew report said higher ed wasn't doing its job because students were too selfish and self-centered. We put together a conference about community service and giving back, and I helped host one of the first ones at UCLA in 1989, which kicked off my desire to stay in higher education to help students find their voice, get great educations, and become socially responsible citizens. I protested in Chancellor Young's office at UCLA for Professor Don Nakanishi's tenure, and our communities rose up to create change. Don subsequently received his tenure and went on to write extensively in Asian American journals. Then I went to work for Chancellor Young himself, learning from his vision for UCLA's future, including what funding cycles needed to be and what university-corporate partnerships should look like. He taught me about building systems first so you can handle whatever comes next. As a college president for 3 years and 5 months, my days were filled with running from one meeting to another, jumping from fundraising to board meetings to curriculum and technology issues. I always thought of myself as a glorified generalist who knew who to consult for in-depth information. I've been instrumental in the service learning and AmeriCorps movements, helping to engineer legislation and serving on the California Commission for Improving Life Through Service. I trained hundreds, if not thousands, of people in service learning and civic responsibility. I also helped create the high school community service requirement when Leeson was California's state superintendent. I've been privileged to participate in a think tank started by Vint Cerf, one of the fathers of the internet, from 2015 to 2018 or 2019, where we discussed artificial intelligence and its impact on jobs and education long before it became mainstream. Now I'm transitioning from my presidential role and relaunching my consulting work, focusing on human-centered AI and how education needs to integrate AI components without losing the critical thinking and analytical aspects of what it means to be human.