Roy Y. Chan

Roy Y. Chan, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Education and Director of the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) program in the Helen DeVos College of Education at Lee University, Tennessee. He currently teaches courses on leadership theory in education, diversity and inclusion in the classroom, college student development, higher education practicum, comparative and international education, and dissertation writing. His research agenda broadly focuses on college retention and completion, higher education policy, online and distance education, and international higher education.

Prior to his academic appointment in 2021, Roy served as the Director of TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) at Lee, where he led the renewal of a 5-year grant of $1.3 million funded by the U.S. Department of Education. At that time of his appointment, Roy was recognized as the first ‘Asian American male’ to serve as a TRIO SSS Director in the United States, and the only Chinese American male to lead a TRIO SSS program at any U.S. public or private university since its founding in 1968.

Roy is an active member of ACSD, AEFP, ASHE, AERA, CASE, CIES, NASPA, and NAFSA. He has published peer-reviewed journal articles in Studies in Higher Education, Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, International Journal of Chinese Education, and Journal of Education Policy, Planning and Administration, and has served as a Reviewer for the Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, Journal of International Students, and Journal of First-Generation Student Success. Roy currently serves as Chair of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) Study Abroad and International Students (SAIS) Special Interest Group (SIG), Board Member of the Tennessee Association for Student Success and Retention (TASSR), and Committee Member of the Bobby Wright ASHE Dissertation of the Year Award.

Roy’s is the author of Online Teaching and Learning in Higher Education during COVID-19: International Perspectives and Experiences by Routledge (2022). He holds a Ph.D. degree in History, Philosophy, and Policy in Education with a Graduate Certificate in Institutional Research from Indiana University Bloomington, a M.A. degree in Higher Education Administration from Boston College, a M.Ed. degree in Comparative Higher Education from The University of Hong Kong, and a B.A. degree in Criminology, Law & Society from the University of California, Irvine. Roy has been a non-degree student at Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania.

During his free time, Roy enjoys traveling, kayaking, baking holiday cookies, visiting art galleries and museums, and volunteering at his local church.