Lizette Chevalier

I attribute my success to dumb luck and perseverance. It's really been a combination of being in the right place at the right time, but also having the determination to keep pushing forward no matter what challenges came my way. Throughout my 30 years in higher education, I've learned that success isn't just about being smart or talented - it's about showing up, doing the work, and not giving up when things get difficult.

The best career advice I've ever received is to fix a door open. This has been a guiding principle throughout my career - when I find opportunities or pathways that have worked for me, I make sure to keep those doors open for others who come after me. In fact, I try to kick doors open for anyone that comes through and asks for it. It's about creating access and opportunity for the next generation, not just benefiting from it yourself and then closing it behind you.

My advice to young women entering this industry is to recognize your hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Don't keep them to yourself - vocalize them with others that are in your influential network. It's so important to bring people around you to lift everybody up. Success isn't just about your individual achievement; it's about creating a community of support where everyone can thrive together. Share your goals, be open about what you want to accomplish, and build relationships with people who will help you get there while you help them in return.

The biggest challenge in my field right now is understanding how we're going to ethically and intelligently use AI to advance knowledge. If we ignore it, it's going to just run in front of us. Throughout my career, I've seen major technological shifts - first, integrating technology and education, getting people to use computers and modeling, was a huge step. Then we had the MOOCs, these online courses, and we were wondering how that would impact higher ed and how we would adjust to that competition, but we seemed to integrate that well in different ways. Now I see the third big movement is AI, and we're all over the place. If someone tells me that AI is going to be used for cheating, I'm going to do another faceplant on my desk. It's about deeper learning. We can now access information at such a rapid pace, and the young people coming up are being indoctrinated to this information overload. So how do we get our brains around all of that and allow us to use it as tools? The way we get ahead of it is with our ethics and with our own ability to be critical thinkers.

The values most important to me in my work and personal life are honesty, caring, being present, and thinking strategically. But I want to emphasize that the human factors have to come in first. All the things like caring about the people around you, being able to listen and be present - all those types of things come before the strategic planning. You can't just focus on the strategy and the goals without first making sure you're taking care of the people around you and truly being there for them. That human connection and genuine care is the foundation everything else is built on.