Philanthropic Foundation Board of Governors

Natalie A. Tran

Faculty Representative

Chair, Department of Secondary Education, Director
Ed.D Program

Dr. Natalie Tran is currently the Director of NRCAL and has completed her PhD in Education in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Tran currently serves as CSUF Associate Professor of Educational Leadership, Department chair of Secondary Education and founder of the Vietnamese American Education Advisory Council, which was created to seek input from the community to develop the Vietnamese Bachelor’s degree, credential pathway, and bilingual authorization at CSUF. Dr. Tran is also a heritage speaker of Vietnamese. Currently, she serves as a Co-Principal Investigator for an NSF-funded project to develop Spanish-English dual language immersion curriculum and provide teacher training to improve math and science achievement among middle school, low income Latino students. She teaches Research Support Seminars: Linking Research to Problems of Practice and Connecting Research Questions to Scholarship in the doctoral program at CSUF. She will also provide support for NRCAL’s research activities. Dr. Tran was honored as a Community Hero Award Recipient on May 29, 2014 for her extraordinary dedication and contribution to the diverse Orange County community. Working at the intersection of research, area studies, the preservation and devotion to diversity, and public dissemination of knowledge, she understands the multiple roles necessary to be successful as the director of NRCAL, and can lead the center to marked success as an invaluable nationally-reaching resource for educators.