Ding-Jo started her full professorship in the Educational Leadership Ed.D. Program at California State University Fullerton in the fall of 2011. This new chapter of her career comes after she has earned the reputation as an outstanding national and international recognized leader in higher education with over 30+ years of distinguished service as Chancellor of Coast Community College District, President of Coastline College, and a number of executive level leadership roles. Ding-Jo is known as the first Asian American woman to be elected by her 1200+ peer CEO’s as the Chair of American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and also served on the Board of Directors for the American Council of Education (ACE). In addition to the HERS Board, she currently serves as a member of the Board of Visitors of Air University of US Air Force, Board member of Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) and a number of other state and local boards. Ding-Jo has been the recipient of many prestigious local and national awards, including the Lovejoy Mentor Award, Women Helping Women Award, the Outstanding Chinese Educator Award, the Small Business Administration District Director’s Award, the Visionary of the Year Award, the award for Woman of the Year in Community Colleges and many more.
She has been the host and institute coordinator for Kaleidoscope, a national leadership institute designed primarily for women of color in higher education with 20 years of success, now housed at CSU Fullerton. Ding-Jo is also the Founder and President of China’s Higher Education Foundation promoting the enhancement of higher education through collaboration between the East and the West. She is a sought after keynote speaker on leadership, strategic planning, international/multicultural education, student success, and women leadership development. Behind Ding-Jo is a solid educational background with her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in Intercultural/International Education and degrees in Mathematics, Psychology and Counseling.
This year, she received the Leadership Award from A2MEND, and the Outstanding Alumni Honor Award from Manchester College.
Ding-Jo is also CEO of United Education Alliance, an organization she established to connect and improve the world through education. The most current project is the Presidents Fellows Program, working with UC Berkeley and Jiangsu Province Ministry of Education with their university presidents.