Joe Sun is an executive-level leader in higher education who has worked in settings across the globe. He is currently the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Arcadia University. Previously, Joe was Vice Rector (Provost) of Forman Christian College in Lahore, Pakistan, where he remains an Adjunct Associate Professor of Sociology, and remotely co-directs the Poverty Action Lab, which he co-founded. Joe served as Global Director of Master’s Programs in Organizational Leadership for an international NGO, overseeing delivery of distance education degree programs in nearly 20 low-income countries.

Joe has held multiple leadership appointments at University of Pennsylvania, most recently as Vice Dean at Penn’s Engineering School, where he retired after 31 years of service. His career at Penn also included serving as Academic Director of the Undergraduate Division at the Wharton School, Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dean of Residential Life, and Director of the Greenfield Intercultural Center. His work has resulted in establishing many programs and initiatives that promote student learning and development, enhance campus life, support students of color, promote a multicultural campus climate, advance K-16 education, establish links and collaborations with Philadelphia’s diverse communities, and enable global learning experiences. He has designed and/or taught classes on international development, technology policy and development, Asian-American studies, multiculturalism, modern China and Chinese development, and leadership studies. He is a champion of service learning/civic engagement pedagogy.