Kathy M. Takayama, PhD
Executive Director of the Center for Professional Development and Inclusive Excellence in the Faculty Affairs Office at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University
Before taking on her current role at OIST, Dr. Takayama served in a variety of academic roles: she worked at the University of Maryland Teaching and Learning Transformation Center (TLTC), was a Senior Science Education Fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), and director of the Center for Advanced Teaching and Learning through Research at Northeastern University.
As a fellow, Dr. Takayama worked with HHMI to develop strategies that assist institutions in building capacity toward inclusive excellence for all students, empowering faculty and administrators, and cultivating successful incentives that amplify the collective strengths and contributions of all stakeholders to foster successful learning environments. In her work at Northeastern, Dr. Takayama established a diversity and inclusivity strategy for the center, which were integrated through programs and activities. She created new partnerships between departments, enhanced the graduate student orientation to foster belonging and value to the identities of all graduate students, developed a "train-the-trainer" program for science faculty, and built a community where ongoing scholarly exchange was a core value for all educators and learners.
Dr. Takayama holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Rutgers University Medical School, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).