Dr. Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux (MS '03) Named Inaugural Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Assessment

Piqueux (MS '03), currently the Institute's chief institutional research officer, has been appointed assistant vice president for diversity, equity, inclusion, and assessment. Her new role, which continues to report through the Strategy Implementation office, is effective February 1.

The newly established position allows Malcom-Piqueux to leverage her professional expertise and experiences studying, teaching, and conducting research in STEM fields to enhance, expand, and coordinate Caltech's diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in a strategic research-based manner.

In addition, starting in September 2021, when Vice Provost Cindy Weinstein's term as the Institute's chief diversity officer ends, Malcom-Piqueux will also assume the responsibilities of the chief diversity officer and report directly to the president in that capacity.

When Malcom-Piqueux assumes that roll in the fall, she will continue Weinstein's efforts in the oversight of the Caltech Center for Inclusion and Diversity (CCID), and will work closely with the President's Diversity Council and CCID to expand programming and engagement initiatives that have been instrumental in the Institute's progress to date and, importantly, have helped cultivate greater community among faculty, postdoctoral scholars, students, and staff across campus.

"A proficient scientist, respected and talented administrator with more than 10 years of experience applying qualitative, quantitative, and action research methodologies to inform change across STEM fields, Lindsey is deeply committed to advancing the ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion," says Caltech president Thomas F. Rosenbaum, the Sonja and William Davidow Presidential Chair and professor of physics. "She has cultivated in-depth knowledge of barriers that prevent diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities in STEM on the one hand, and of research-based strategies and interventions to realize new, effective opportunities on the other."

An Institute alumna, Malcom-Piqueux returned to Caltech as an employee in 2018, and has since systematically revitalized the institutional research function and proven herself a reliable resource for faculty, deans, and division chairs in a wide variety of projects and initiatives. Most recently, she joined Weinstein in leading the Institute's reaccreditation process, which culminated in a successful virtual site visit in October 2020.

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to apply my background in STEM, higher education, and institutional research to advance the Institute's goals and to work collaboratively with the Caltech community in this space." says Malcom-Piqueux. "As a Black woman who attended Caltech and MIT, I have experienced firsthand the isolation that comes with being the ‘only' in the classroom or research lab. The effects of those experiences on my learning, passion for science, and overall well-being were very real. In order to ensure that all Caltech students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and alumni feel connected to the Institute, we have to engage in the difficult self-reflection and self-assessment needed to understand where our challenges lie, and how we can best surmount those challenges."

"There are opportunities for everyone to engage in institutional efforts to ensure that Caltech is diverse, equitable, and inclusive," she continues. "Developing and articulating a strategic approach with which all of our DEI efforts can be aligned will enable the entire community to contribute to the Institute's goals in coordinated and research-informed ways."

Malcom-Piqueux is a respected scholar and nationally recognized expert, having provided consultation and expertise to the National Science Foundation, NASA, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute of Physics, the Association for the Study of Higher Education, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, the American Educational Research Association, and JPL, among other organizations. Recently, Malcom-Piqueux was appointed to the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) study committee on Increasing Diversity and Inclusion in the Leadership of Competed Space Missions and was commissioned to write a paper on the implications of transformations in STEM higher education on racial equity by the NASEM Board on Science Education.

Prior to joining Caltech's administration, Malcom-Piqueux served as associate director of research and policy at the Center for Urban Education at USC and as a faculty member at the George Washington University and UC Riverside. She holds a bachelor's degree in planetary science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master's degree in planetary science from Caltech, and a doctoral degree in urban education with a concentration in higher education, from USC.

Malcom-Piqueux's "expertise, counsel, and initiative will be instrumental," says Rosenbaum, "as Caltech evolves, through collective and sustained campuswide efforts, to become a destination for the most outstanding scholars from all backgrounds and perspectives."