Staff

S. Lance Cooper

Interim Director of the Institute for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Access and professor of physics, Lance Cooper, has been involved in a number of diversity efforts at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. While serving as Associate Head for Graduate Programs in Physics since 2011, the numbers of both women and students from historically underrepresented groups in the Illinois Physics PhD program have increased significantly. He is a member of the Diversity Realized by Visioning Excellence (DRIVE) committee whose mission is to improve faculty diversity on campus, he was a member of the inaugural Grainger College of Engineering Diversity Committee, and he is the site leader for the Illinois Physics Bridge-to-PhD Partnership Program run by the American Physical Society. He was also co-PI on the Illinois Sloan University Center for Exemplary Mentoring – a 9-year program that broadened participation in STEM graduate programs at Illinois by attracting 151 PhD students from historically underrepresented groups into 17 STEM departments on campus – and he was the co-PI on the NSF-sponsored Inclusive Graduate Education Network (IGEN) program that investigated ways to improve graduate admissions of historically underrepresented students into Physics PhD programs.

 

Ashleigh R. Wright

Ashleigh R. Wright, PhD is the Associate Director and Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. She is responsible for collaborating with college and departmental leaders and stakeholders to identify needs and priorities, developing and implementing evidence-based strategies, and measuring progress and effectiveness quantitatively against key metrics that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and access to the undergraduate and graduate student communities. She also conducts research that analyzes trends, driving factors, barriers, and best practices to educate others and support organizational improvement.  Ashleigh is a member of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) and serves as the affiliate advisor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign NOBCChE Student Chapter.

Prior to joining the University, Ashleigh managed and directed many training and pathway programs that support students from underrepresented backgrounds in STEM, and facilitated workshops that enhance the academic, personal, and professional development of students at North Carolina State University and Louisiana State University. She holds degrees in chemistry from Wofford College (B.S.), North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (M.S.), and Louisiana State University (Ph.D.).