Interim President Wong pens chapter for new book on Chinese American leaders in higher education

Interim President Leslie E. Wong has contributed a chapter to a new book, The Rise of Chinese American Leaders in U.S. Higher Education: Stories and Roadmaps. Part of the Springer book series International Perspectives on Social Policy, Administration and Practice, the book was published online at the end of December and in print this month.

Wong’s chapter, “High Expectations, Short Fuse: The ‘Intangibles’ Facing an Asian American President,” aims to “clarify many of the assumptions of leadership that are won and lost by an awareness of the dynamics” of what Wong refers to as intangibles—“campus expectations of you, a community’s expectations of you, your values, their values, their prevailing attitudes, or their sense of your ‘personality.’”

Wong writes, “American culture can picture [Asian Americans] as teachers, doctors, lawyers and counselors. But this culture has a hard time picturing us as CEOs, head coaches, generals and military commanders. …The most intangible of all intangibles may be whether our public sees that we do have the ‘stuff’ to lead. Having the ‘right stuff’ is the key aspect of leadership stereotypes we work against and the most fragile of perceptions to sustain.”

Wong became interim president of Connecticut College on July 1, 2023. He previously served as president of San Francisco State University and Northern Michigan University, as well as interim president of the University of Southern Colorado.

“I'm so honored to be part of this project,” Wong said. “The book is a trendsetting book, the first to collect the stories of Asian American higher education leaders. There are so few of us; all of us hope our text will guide a new generation of leaders. Many of the authors are my friends and I am proud to be included with them.”

He added, “The text is a vivid reminder that I must continue to learn from those around me here at Conn. The incredible culture of teaching and learning at Conn motivates me to be intellectually engaged and productive.”