Professor Euan Hague explains to an Explore Chicago class in 2013 how a once thriving portion of Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood has all but disappeared. (DePaul University/Jamie Moncrief)
The Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities announced Euan Hague will receive the Barbara A. Holland Scholar-Administrator Award, an award that recognizes the growing need for research-informed leadership in higher education.
Hague, the director of the School of Public Service and a professor of cultural and urban geography, will be honored with an award presentation on Oct. 22 at the 2019 CUMU Annual Conference in Philadelphia. Founded in 1989, the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities is the longest-running and largest organization committed to serving and connecting North America’s urban and metropolitan universities and their partners.
Professor Euan Hague, director, School of Public Service. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)
Among his roles at DePaul, Hague serves as director of the collaborative Urban Studies cluster, an affiliation of multiple degree-granting programs, departments and research centers in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. He has led numerous interdisciplinary initiatives that have produced an engaged curriculum that tackles urban issues. His interdisciplinary approach to leadership and administration has led to the development of several undergraduate minors and a master’s degree in Sustainable Urban Development, which has become a robust contributor to the urban-focused graduate curriculum at DePaul.
“I am deeply honored to receive the Holland Award," Hague says. "It recognizes what many of us do in our academic jobs, and appreciates the work of faculty that goes beyond the realms of teaching and research. When I finished my Ph.D. 20 years ago, I did not think about becoming a ‘scholar-administrator.’ I do not think such a phrase even existed. Yet it accurately reflects my career, as it does that of Dr. Holland,” Hague says.
Hague’s leadership extends into Chicago's neighborhoods, where he is actively involved with the work of Pilsen Alliance, a nonprofit community organization that works in Chicago’s primarily Latinx West Side neighborhood, and AREA-Chicago, a group of activists, artists and academics who published a semi-annual newspaper that tackled urban-related themes.
“Being a scholar-administrator at an institution based in the center of Chicago has enabled me to work with people, both on and off campus, in ways that have advanced DePaul University, the study of my home discipline of geography and, I hope, have had an impact on the city and its residents in positive ways,” he says.
Hague was nominated by Guillermo Vásquez de Velasco, dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences.
“As director of our Urban Studies cluster, he provides leadership to a large number of academic, research, and service units at DePaul and partner institutions. His collaborative spirit has propelled many projects in which he has intersected the contributions of students, faculty, professional, and other administrators. His leadership is truly inspirational,” Vásquez de Velasco says.
The Holland Award is a CUMU member-nominated, member-led initiative. In recent years, CUMU initiatives revealed many leadership decisions and campus strategies are being informed by rigorous research that leads to effective and replicable strategies. The Barbara A. Holland Scholar-Administrator Award honors mid-career scholar-administrators whose leadership and intellectual voice is leading to new strategic directions relevant to current challenges in higher education. Holland Scholars are distinguished by an integrated record of administrative leadership and high-impact scholarship that has shaped ideas and actions within and beyond their institution.
“DePaul University embraces its urban character and its public service responsibility, which is manifested in the work of its faculty and staff,” says Salma Ghanem, interim provost. “Dr. Hague embodies DePaul’s mission through his engagement in community-based research and collaboration with local organizations. This award is a wonderful affirmation of his excellent work.”