Please join President Janine Davidson, Ph.D., in welcoming Graham Ignizio, Ph.D., as the 2023 Presidential Faculty Fellow. Ignizio is the third faculty member to hold the role at Metropolitan State University of Denver.
Ignizio joined the University in 2012 as an assistant professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies in the Department of Modern Languages (soon to be renamed as World Languages). He also served as the faculty associate for Service Learning in the Applied Learning Center at MSU Denver from 2014 until 2019 and has coordinated and directed the University’s summer study-abroad in Cádiz, Spain, since 2013.
“The Faculty Fellow Program is a leadership-development opportunity designed for a faculty member to immerse themselves in the president’s front office for an entire calendar year,” Davidson said. “They learn by observing day-to-day operations and serving as a quasi-deputy chief of staff. Graham has really embraced the role and hit the ground running as a key advisor and contributor on our team.”
The Presidential Faculty Fellows Program was established in 2021 as a professional-development opportunity that allows Category II, tenured and tenure-track faculty members to learn firsthand about presidential-level operations, leadership and decision-making. With a focus on shared governance, the program allows Fellows to contribute to and support strategy and decision-making related to University operations, budget, special projects, legislative and external affairs, fundraising, communications and more.
In his new role, Ignizio aims to support MSU Denver’s goal of becoming a model Hispanic-Serving Institution and learn more about the inner workings of the organization.
“I hope that my background in Spanish and Hispanic Studies will complement the hard work that has already been done in many areas of the University,” Ignizio said. “I would also like to gain a greater understanding of how the institution functions, thinking about issues from both the micro- and macro-level perspective.”
Ignizio came to MSU Denver from New York, where he was a visiting assistant professor at Union College. He received his doctorate from the University of North Carolina and also holds degrees from North Carolina State University and Middlebury College. He specializes in 20th- and 21st-century Cuban-American literature and is interested in U.S. Latino/a/x studies, experiential learning, service learning, study-abroad/international studies and community-based learning.
“I wholeheartedly believe in experiential learning in higher education,” Ignizio said. “I have witnessed firsthand the fundamental effect of High-Impact Practices on MSU Denver students and want to continue to be an advocate as I work closely with senior leadership.”