The Universities at Shady Grove’s incoming executive director says she is focused on finding innovative ways to advance the campus and strengthen partnerships with community organizations.
The University System of Maryland on Monday morning announced that Anne Khademian, a presidential fellow and processor at Virginia Tech, will take over as USG’s next executive director, effective Oct. 19. She will succeed Stewart Edelstein, who has agreed to retain his position until Khademian assumes her role.
Khademian will also serve as associate vice chancellor for academic affairs for the University System of Maryland.
In an interview Monday afternoon, Khademian said she was drawn to USG because of its focus on helping first-generation and underrepresented students participate in higher education, as well as its work to enhance economic development and community partnerships with MCPS and other organizations.
“There’s commitment in the system … to continue to do those innovative things and explore ways higher education can be a better partner to the community at large,” Khademian said. “I’m really happy that I have a chance to be a part of that effort.”
With more than 20 years of experience working in higher education, Khademian said that commitment to innovation will be critical both during and after the coronavirus pandemic.
Higher education must remain nimble and find ways to “serve our students better, to serve our communities better and to be more affordable,” Khademian said. Institutions across the country, including USG, likely will have to get by with less funding. (Steve Hull, the editor-in-chief and publisher of Bethesda Magazine and Bethesda Beat, is a member of the USG Board of Advisors.)
“My focus in the immediate term will be on making sure we’re taking care of our students, taking care of our faculty, taking care of our staff, and making sure everyone’s safe and getting what they need,” Khademian said. “Then, in the longer term, it’s going to be how do we innovate now? How can we continue to do good things? … How do we build on what we’ve learned in this time?”
At Virginia Tech, Khademian is a professor and director of the School of Public and International Affairs.
During her time there, Khademian has “led the school through a period of significant growth and transformation, including the introduction of new academic degrees and programs; increased student enrollment; new faculty hires; forging of new global partnerships and initiatives; and extended outreach to the local community,” according to a news release from the University System of Maryland on Monday.
She has written three books and has published several research articles about public management and public policy.
Khademian is a fellow and member of the board of directors of the National Academy of Public Administration.
Khademian said she hopes her experience can be “an asset in fostering what is an already collaborative space (at USG) to do more.”
A 58-year-old mother of two, Khademian grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before moving to Michigan.
She attended Michigan State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and master’s degree in public administration. She later earned her Ph.D. in political science from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Khademian participated in cross country and track at Michigan State, a Division I school, and was recently inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
Khademian has lived in Chevy Chase since 2003, and her two daughters attended Montgomery County Public Schools. For seven years, Khademian made the four-hour drive to Virginia Tech once per week, leaving home at 3 a.m. to arrive at 7 a.m.
In her spare time, Khademian enjoys reading, spending time with her family and exercising with her two rescue dogs, Fiona and Peaches.
