August 6, 2019

Dr. Elena Castro to receive SEC ALDP Alumni Fellowship

Dr. Elena Castro is Director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Interdisciplinary Program at Louisiana State University.

By: SEC Staff
SECU (Twitter: @TheSECU)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Dr. Elena Castro, Professor and Director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Interdisciplinary Program at Louisiana State University, will receive an SEC Academic Leadership Development Program (SEC ALDP) Alumni Fellowship, the Conference staff announced Tuesday. The fellowship is an opportunity for SEC ALDP alumni to visit other SEC universities to strengthen their administrative leadership skills while addressing an area of growth for their home institutions.

Dr. Castro, who previously served as Director of the Spanish Program at LSU, has been invited to spend time with administrators at Auburn University, the University of Kentucky and Vanderbilt University during the upcoming academic year. On those campuses she plans to take an in-depth look at how the three institutions have developed global engagement programs, built sustainable infrastructure, measured impact, allocated resources and evaluated success.

“Having been an international graduate student myself, I take seriously the university’s responsibility to be a place where the world can engage in scholarly conversation to create knowledge without borders,” said Dr. Castro. “And being committed to building LSU’s reputation as a global thought-leader in numerous fields of study, I am eager to bring my experience to bear in developing connections with international institutions.”

Widely renowned as a leader in her field, Dr. Castro is responsible for comprehensive oversight of the largest interdisciplinary program at LSU. She attributes the program’s success to, “international recruitment of students and faculty, working with international granting parties and developing study abroad programs for increasingly globally-aware graduate faculty and students.”

A member of the 2017-2018 SEC ALDP cohort, Dr. Castro has authored three books, one edited collection and more than 20 published peer-reviewed articles. A specialist in both Iberian Literature and in Gender & Sexuality Studies, she speaks Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese and Italian. Her purview at LSU includes course scheduling, faculty supervision and stewardship of program budgeting.

“For more than 10 years SEC universities have been intentionally investing in the future of higher education through the SEC Academic Leadership Development Program,” said Dr. Torie Johnson, SEC Associate Commissioner. “Dr. Castro is clearly a leader at Louisiana State University, and we are pleased to be able to support her growth through collaboration with other SEC administrators.”

The SEC ALDP Alumni Fellowship component of the SEC ALDP is in its third year and two former participants may receive the award annually. The overarching SEC ALDP seeks to identify, prepare and advance academic leaders for roles within SEC institutions and beyond.