Title: Professor and chairwoman, Department of English, Vanguard University
Education: Ph.D., English (British and American literature), University of California at Berkeley; M.F.A. and B.A., Brown University
Age: 38
Career mentors: Hertha Dawn Sweet Wong, U.C. Berkeley; Meredith Steinbach, Brown University; Sandra McPherson, U.C. Davis
Words of wisdom/advice for new faculty members: “Cultivate empathy and listen. Understand the cultures of your campus. Share your passion for teaching and research.”
When Dr. Karen An-Hwei Lee was a first-grader, she enjoyed writing and illustrating chapbooks under the instruction of a “wonderful teacher” who guided her creativity as she produced books about butterflies and seeds. “I’ve been writing ever since,” she says. “I started keeping journals; writing letters.”
But as a member of a family of scientists, the Massachusetts native attended a high school with a nationally competitive science program and entered Brown University as a pre-med biochemistry major. Nevertheless, her passion for writing prevailed. She enrolled in one creative writing workshop after another.
