Two Professors Chosen for National Leadership Program
May 4, 2022
Two Huntley College of Agriculture faculty members have been selected to participate in a year-long national leadership program.
Professor Muditha Senanayake, chair of the Department of Apparel Merchandising and Management, and Associate Professor Joanne Sohn from the Department of Animal and Veterinary Science were chosen for the LEAD21 “Leadership for the 21st Century” program.
LEAD21 is intended to meet the future needs for leadership development of faculty, specialists, program and team leaders, research station and center directors, district and regional directors, department heads and chairs, and others in land grant universities’ colleges of agricultural, environmental, and human sciences and USDA/NIFA.
The program is also open to Non-Land-Grant Agriculture and Renewable Resources Universities (NARRU) as well as Hispanic Serving Institutions (HIS) such as Cal Poly Pomona with colleges in the areas mentioned above.
Participants attend three sessions and complete a concurrent individual learning component.
Among the leadership skills that participants develop are communication, managing conflict, fostering collaboration, leading change, leading with integrity and values, developing self and others, valuing diversity, and developing a deeper knowledge and appreciation of higher education.
Senanayake joined Cal Poly Pomona in 2007 as an assistant professor, became interim department chair in 2017, and was later appointed chair for a four-year term in 2021. He is a chartered textile technologist and is an expert in apparel product development, production, and quality management.
He was the 2011 recipient of the college’s Mack H. Kennington Advisor of the Year Award and is an active member of the Textile Institute, the International Textile and Apparel Association, and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists.
A veterinarian, Sohn has taught at Cal Poly Pomona since 2014 and directs the animal health science program, which prepares students to become registered veterinary technicians – the veterinary equivalent of nurses.
She was the recipient of the 2020-21 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the college’s 2016 Teacher of the Year Award.
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs named her a Fulbright Specialist in 2020 to share her veterinary expertise with organizations and institutions overseas.
Both Senanayake and Sohn received $5,000 scholarships to participate in the program.