Dr. Robert Teranishi studies the causes and consequences of stratification of college opportunities among AAPIs.
Effective this fall, Dr. Robert Teranishi will be the inaugural holder of the Morgan and Helen Chu Endowed Chair in Asian American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, where AAPI students make up 36 percent of the 27,000-plus undergraduates. Teranishi has also accepted an appointment as professor of education in UCLA’s graduate school of education and information studies. He will be leaving his post as associate professor of higher education at New York University.
Since Teranishi’s research is in a young academic field, his move to the West Coast could raise the overall profile of the entire discipline, he says.
“There’s growing recognition of how fast the AAPI population is multiplying,” he says. “Institutions and programs are seeking faculty, especially faculty of color, who can address the demographic questions. I’m looking forward to joining UCLA and continuing to try to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of AAPI students.”
Morgan and Helen Chu, who are alumni and among the founders of UCLA’s Asian-American Studies Center, and for whom the endowed chair is named, called UCLA’s hiring of Teranishi “wonderful news.”
“We are excited that the Chu Endowed Chair will support his program of research,” the statement read.
Teranishi studies the causes and consequences of stratification of college opportunities among AAPIs. He is particularly interested in how higher education practices and policies can impact—or, in some instances, fail to address—the mobility of the most marginalized and vulnerable communities. For some audiences, Teranishi’s work is a rare encounter since any narrative of AAPI students differs from the seemingly omnipresent “model minority” myth.
