Connie Tingson-Gatuz, PhD

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Dr. Connie Tingson Gatuz developed a heightened awareness of the impact of leadership and mentorship while growing up in a struggling multigenerational extended family of immigrants. Dr. Tingson Gatuz is a higher education leader, educator, author, public speaker, and facilitator. She serves as Associate Vice President of Student Life at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Previously, she served as vice president for student affairs and mission integration as the first Person of Color and the only woman to serve on the Executive Council at Madonna University, for over a decade. As an adjunct assistant professor, she co-developed a master’s degree program in higher education administration to prepare future leaders. Previously, she served in various administrative roles at Michigan State University (MSU) and the University of Michigan (UM). One of the founding members of the Midwest Asian American Student Union (MAASU), MSU’s Philippine American Student Society (PASS), and the Council of Racial Ethnic Students (CORES); she has orchestrated community partnerships for numerous college student organizations locally, regionally, and nationally.

Dr. Tingson Gatuz served as the project director of a Fulbright-Hays federal grant supplying opportunities for faculty to engage in research, language training, and curriculum development projects overseas in the Philippines. As a Lead Consultant for the national Gates Millennium Scholarship Program, she trained reviewers to select America’s best and brightest across the nation to receive college scholarships, for over a decade. Enthusiastic about developing community leaders, she developed the curriculum for a national college leadership program, based in Washington DC. A national Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute (APAWLI) Fellow and National OCA Pioneer Community Educator Awardee, she has dedicated her career to educating and developing people in organizations. Contributing author in Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Higher Education: Research and Perspectives on Identity, Leadership, and Success, she highlighted the importance of mentoring leaders.

Spanning a 30-year career in higher education, she is a recipient of the National Association for Student Personnel Administrators API Knowledge Community Breaking the Glass Ceiling and Outstanding Mentor Awards, the National OCA Pioneer Community Educator Award, the International Mentoring Association Outstanding Dissertation of the Year Award, and the Republic of the Philippines’ Outstanding Educator Recognition. Tingson Gatuz has served on the faculty and co-chaired a national symposium for aspiring executive women leaders in higher education and is a Fellow alum of the national Asian Pacific Islander Women’s Leadership Institute. She is an active member of Chief, a private membership network of women executive leaders and is a Board member and State-Chair Elect of the Michigan American Council on Education Women’s Network (MI-ACE). Tingson Gatuz earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, master’s degree in college and university administration, and a doctorate in educational administration from Michigan State University.