Dr. Aseem Talukdar completes Academic Leadership Development Institute
FRANKFORT, Ky.) -- The Council on Postsecondary Education’s new leadership institute for underrepresented minority faculty graduated its inaugural cohort last week during a Council meeting at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College. Madisonville Community College faculty member, Dr. Aseem Talukdar, was among those who completed the program.
The purpose of the Academic Leadership Development Institute (ALDI) is to develop more campus leaders among early career, underrepresented minority faculty who aspire to leadership positions. The cohort consisted of 19 faculty representing all eight of the state universities and seven colleges of Kentucky Community and Technical College System.
Dr. Talukdar, originally from India, completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics from Delhi University in New Delhi. He relocated to the United States for advanced study and earned another master’s degree and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Cincinnati. He joined MCC in the fall of 2009 as a physics and astronomy instructor. Dr. Talukdar research interests include condensed matter physics, astronomy and physics education.
“We are building a cadre of great higher education leaders who can take us well in the 21st century,” said Aaron Thompson, Council executive vice president and chief academic officer. Thompson said that institutions benefit from developing their own leaders because of their familiarity with the campus climate and knowledge of the institutional mission and strategic plan.
In addition, the program supports campus diversity plans that call for increasing underrepresented minorities in management occupations. The program, created and facilitated by Dr. Caroline Atkins, a senior associate at the Council, was an eight-month program. During this time, participants acquired a more comprehensive view of postsecondary education from both national and statewide perspectives.