Berkeley Faculty Service Award

Professor Lok Siu joined UC Berkeley faculty in 2012 and is currently a professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies. An acclaimed scholar of Asian diasporas and transnationalism, colleagues applaud her “tireless” service to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and social justice on Berkeley campus and as a Berkeley faculty representative, systemwide.

Professor Siu’s campus service commenced in 2013, initially serving on the Status of Women and Ethnic Minorities on (SWEM) committee. As a member, she played contributory roles in its transformation to the Diversity, Equity, and Campus Climate (DECC) Committee. While a member of DECC from 2014-2017, she served as Berkeley’s representative and liaison to the systemwide Affirmative Action, Diversity, and Equity Committee (UCAADE) from 2015-2017. In 2017 and 2018, Siu became the Vice Chair and Chair of UCCADE, respectively. As Chair of UCAADE, Professor Siu played key roles in developing and advocating for programs and strategies supporting the diversification and retention of the UC professoriate through the Faculty Diversity Initiative. During her chairship, she also contributed to the development of recommendations to enhance the Presidential Post-Doctoral Program, guidelines for inclusion and use of diversity statements in faculty merit, promotion, and tenure reviews, as well as guidelines to inform best practices for Equity Advisors. After completing her term as UCAADE Chair, she continued to serve on the systemwide Task Force on Extending Faculty Diversity (2019-2020).

In addition to her efforts in support of faculty, Professor Liu played key roles in relation to undergraduate education.  In spring 2021, she served on the BOARS IGETC Ethnic Studies Working group, which developed recommendations for the transfer of credits from the Cal State system to the UC system. According to Keith Feldman, Chair, Department of Ethnic Studies, “[t]hese recommendations have become a model for considering Ethnic Studies transfer credits from community colleges, and laid the groundwork for considering a new UC Ethnic Studies admission requirement.”

From 2020-2022, Siu served as Chair of DECC. Siu spearheaded efforts to facilitate conversations between DECC and a variety of other campus units and organizations to collect information about the experiences of and issues across a wide variety of campus communities. In doing so, Siu set the stage for improved communication as well as opportunities for coordination and collaboration. In Spring of 2022, as Chair of DECC, Siu was appointed to the fifteen-member Joint Senate-Administration Workgroup on the Role of the University and its Units in Political and Social Action. Siu was one of three Senate members of the workgroup not serving in a formal administrative capacity.

In addition to her sustained service to the campus and the university, she has served in numerous leadership roles within the Department of Ethnic Studies, including serving on the Executive Committee, as Head Graduate Advisor, as Co-Chair of the Department’s 50th Anniversary Celebration Committee, as chair of the Community Relations committee, and the Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies Program. In this latter role, Professor Siu was instrumental in both fundraising and building the capacity for--and now leading--the Asian American Research Center.

As Keith Feldman further attests, “Siu's record of campus and systemwide service, especially as a mid-career professor, is nothing short of jaw-dropping.”