Baruch College President S. David Wu Named to City & State’s Inaugural Power of Diversity: Asian 100 List

July 27, 2020

City & State has chosen Baruch College President S. David Wu, PhD, as one of New York’s most influential leaders in the Asian community from government, advocacy, media, labor, lobbying, business, education, healthcare, and nonprofits for its first-ever “Power of Diversity: Asian 100” list.

Dr. Wu, whose tenure as Baruch’s eighth president began on July 1, is the first Asian American to lead a City University of New York college. Ranked #22 on the list, President Wu is profiled in the magazine’s special issue published on July 27. Read City & State here.

“I am honored to receive this recognition and to be acknowledged among such prominent and impressive New Yorkers,” said Dr. Wu. “Forty years ago, I traveled from my native Taiwan to New York as an international student, and I’ve come home to this great city and state to lead Baruch College as a new, bold model of higher education.”

Dr. Wu added: “A central theme in my thinking for Baruch’s future: in epitomizing academic excellence and social mobility, Baruch is poised to lead in the shifting landscape of public higher education. In providing affordable access to a high-caliber education for people from all backgrounds and social classes, especially those in our underserved communities, Baruch pioneers and expands ways for producing the talents needed for the innovation economy of New York City, New York State, and our nation.”

City & State’s “Power of Diversity: Asian 100” list also named two Baruch alumni: New York State Assembly Members Ron Kim (MPA ’06) and Yuh-Line Niou (MPA ’11).

Bold Academic Leader and Technology Innovator

An accomplished scholar, a technology innovator, and a bold and visionary academic leader, Dr. Wu has a career that spans more than 30 years at renowned public and private institutions. Before coming to Baruch, he served as provost and executive vice president of George Mason University, where he led the largest public university in Virginia to achieve Carnegie research-one (R1) status. He led Mason’s Access to Excellence campaign—expanding access while achieving excellent academic outcomes regardless of race, ethnicity, and Pell eligibility. Prior to Mason, Dr. Wu was Dean and Iacocca Professor at Lehigh University’s Rossin College of Engineering. He has been a long serving board member of Dartmouth College’s engineering school, and a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

President Wu is a renowned scholar and a technology innovator in systems engineering and operations research. He has published extensively in such areas as game theory, optimization, and econometrics, and his research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and Sandia National Laboratories. Dr. Wu’s field work in data science and statistical leading indicators has been implemented or tested at such firms as Intel, HP, and IBM. His spirit of innovation will help move Baruch forward as a national model in higher education.

Learn more about President Wu’s leadership and read his inaugural blog post “The Journey That Led Me to Baruch.”

City & State

City & State is the premier media organization dedicated to covering New York’s local and state politics and policy. Its award-winning in-depth, non-partisan coverage serves New York’s leaders and the public as a trusted guide to the issues impacting New York.

The “Power of Diversity: Asian 100” list was developed by City & State’s editorial department through a combination of research and interviews with experts.

# # #