Díaz appointed as division’s first-ever associate chair of diversity, access and equity
January 19, 2022

Associate Professor of Research Jesús Díaz ’05, MA ’08, OTD ’09 has been named the first associate chair of diversity, access and equity (DAE) for the USC Chan Division. The appointment was announced today by Associate Dean and Chair Grace Baranek.

As an integral member of the division’s leadership team, Díaz will oversee the development of initiatives, practices, programs and policies across the division’s educational, research and practice/service missions. In turn, those will better support the division’s, school’s and university’s goals toward diversity and inclusion.

In this new role, Díaz will also serve as chair of the division’s DAE Committee, which is responsible for coordinating the division’s activities related to the DAE roadmap, restorative practices trainings and ad hoc working groups. He will continue to co-lead the Strategic Plan strategy implementation team dedicated to diversity and inclusion efforts within the division. Díaz will also serve on the merit review committee to provide oversight and guidance related to issues of diversity and equity, and to prevent bias in the review process and metrics.

Díaz joined the division in 2009, after earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology, Master of Arts degree in occupational therapy and Doctorate of Occupational Therapy degree from USC. He currently supports several NIH-funded research projects housed within the division, teaches several courses within the professional master’s degree program and serves as a faculty mentor to occupational therapy doctorate students.

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