Woo to head the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence

Sang Eun Woo Download image

Jay Akridge, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity, has announced the appointment of Sang Eun Woo as the Susan Bulkeley Butler Chair for Leadership Excellence, effective Jan. 3. The leadership role is a half-time, two-year appointment with the option to renew.

Woo, a professor of industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology in the College of Health and Human Sciences, replaces Mangala Subramaniam, who left Purdue to become senior vice provost for faculty affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“The search committee interviewed a number of outstanding candidates to advance the important work of the Butler Center – Dr. Woo’s research and expertise made her an ideal fit,” Akridge said. “As an I-O psychology expert, she has a deep understanding of personal career mobility; relationships between employees and their employers, supervisors and co-workers; and how work experiences are affected by personality.”

Woo joined the Purdue faculty in 2009 and looks forward to presenting speakers and workshops that are impactful for faculty and staff.

“I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to serve my beloved Purdue community in this new capacity,” Woo said. “The Butler Center has played a significant part in my career and leadership development throughout my time here at Purdue. Supporting and enhancing women faculty leadership success is close to my heart. Standing on the shoulders of Dr. Subramaniam and many others involved in the center, I am very much looking forward to contributing to the Butler Center’s long-standing success and impact as the incoming director.”

Woo received her bachelor’s degree from the Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea, and her PhD in industrial and organizational psychology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

Akridge expressed his gratitude to Linda Mason, dean of the Graduate School, who stepped in as interim director of the Butler Center, and to the search advisory committee, chaired by Preeti Sivasankar, professor and head of the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences.

Committee members are:

• Chris Agnew, professor of psychological sciences.
• Angelica Duran, professor of English.
• Pamala Morris, associate dean and director of the Office of Multicultural Programs and professor of agricultural sciences, education and communication.
• Cara Putman, clinical assistant professor and director of the Brock-Wilson Center for Women in Management.