Keynote Speaker Series:Dr. Oiyan Poon

Dr. OiYan Poon

Educator, Author, and Race Scholar

Dr. OiYan Poon is an educator, author, and race scholar. She is currently serving as a consultant on higher education equity to the office of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. Dr. Poon is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and co-director of the College Admissions Futures Co-Lab. 

Dr. Poon’s research has focused on the racial politics of Asian Americans, education access, affirmative action, and admissions systems and practices. She is the author of Asian American Is Not a Color: Conversations on Race, Affirmative Action, and Family, which explores how Asian Americans are shaping the future of race relations through debates over education policies like affirmative action, using personal narrative and interviews of Asian Americans across the country. Her work has appeared widely in national media outlets including NPR, the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and The New Yorker.