Julie Van

Education

• MEd in Higher Education Administration, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
• BA in Mathematics with minors in Education and English, University of Washington

Biography

Julie Van is an assistant director of academic advising in the network at the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University. She received her master’s in higher education administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and her bachelor’s in mathematics from the University of Washington. During her career, Van has worked at a variety of institutions from small to large and from private to public. Van’s career has led her to work across the country, at universities such as the University of Massachusetts, Boston; Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri; and Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

Van’s position focuses on two portfolios: the first-year experience and student engagement. She loves that her role is built on the foundations of cultivating a sense of belonging, building authentic community, and fostering meaningful connections in Khoury College and Northeastern. From here, the Khoury College team can work towards changing culture and building a more inclusive, diverse, and socially just technology sector rooted in the goals of “computer science for all.”

Van’s experiences as a woman in STEM and as a first-generation, Vietnamese American, low-income student position her to create pathways for students navigating a system that has historically functioned to serve those of privileged identities. Her current position combines two professional passions that have guided her career: empowering students with historically excluded and minoritized identities in STEM fields and supporting new student transitions through the first-year experience.

Van grew up in the Pacific Northwest, in the Seattle/Tacoma area.