Associate Dean for Academic Success and Professor of Dance Ting-Yu Chen ’19, Ed.D., has announced her retirement from Shenandoah Conservatory at the end of the 2024/25 academic year. Dr. Chen began working at Shenandoah in 1997, and will retire after 28 years of dedicated service to its artistic and educational community.

“Ting-Yu Chen has dedicated nearly three decades of her life to Shenandoah University, leaving an indelible mark on our institution and the lives of countless students,” said Interim Dean and Professor of Music (Music Education) Jeffrey Marlatt, Ph.D. “Her unwavering commitment to academic excellence, student success and cultural enrichment has been truly inspiring. As she embarks on this new chapter, we extend our heartfelt gratitude and warmest wishes for a fulfilling retirement.”

Chen became Shenandoah Conservatory’s first Asian American female associate dean for student affairs in 2017. She joined Shenandoah University (SU) in 1997 as a dance faculty member and served as the dance division chair in 2014. As associate dean, she champions for student academic success and well-being. She cultivates student agency and leadership and provides necessary guidance for faculty to help learners navigate complex human challenges from the start of their conservatory experience to degree completion.

Chen has held a faculty appointment as professor of dance for more than two decades. She relishes teaching choreography, creative thinking and authentic expression to budding artists and scholars with an eye towards social justice. Chen has presented her cross-disciplinary research and teaching at conferences and university programs. Her research and teaching have served numerous singers and instrumentalists to advance their professional goals and well-being through body awareness and movement. Additionally, Chen has taught interprofessionally to health professions students and faculty. Her work facilitates a greater level of self-awareness and observational skills necessary for effective nonverbal communication, applicable to patient evaluation for health care providers.

In April 2024, Chen co-led a collaborative pilot project, “Adaptive Dance,” between dance and physical therapy programs serving participants with various mobility challenges such as Parkinson’s Disease, strokes, brain injuries, and quadriplegia. As a result of this initiative, SU now regularly offers Community Adaptive Dance classes. Chen will implement an adaptive dance module to the dance curriculum in Spring 2025 to further prepare Shenandoah dance majors to serve an inclusive population diverse in ages and abilities.

Chen is passionate about promoting intercultural teaching and learning. She was a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) fellow in spring 2021 and became a COIL faculty trainer with the Barzinji Institute of Global Virtual Learning at SU. Since then, Chen has served numerous faculty participants from SU and partner institutions in the Middle East and Southeast Asia since fall 2021. She facilitates topics on inclusive teaching pedagogy and power dynamics in intercultural teaching and learning spaces that enhance cross-cultural communication skills and global competence for both teachers and learners.

Chen received the 2024 Teaching Excellence Award (SU First Year Seminar with Global Virtual Experience), recognizing her ability to inspire students beyond their perceived limits, her creative teaching style, and her skill in fostering a strong classroom community. She was honored for the 2023 Hearts for the Arts Award by the Shenandoah Arts Council. Chen has been a grant recipient of the Taiwanese National Arts Council of Cultural and Educational Development Foundation, the Greater Columbus Arts Council in Ohio, and the Shenandoah Arts Council. Her creative scholarship and teaching have spanned the globe.

Chen has served as a statewide advisory panelist for fellowships in choreography of the Virginia Commission for the Arts and external dance program reviewer for the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and Goucher College. Chen is a member of the Senior Leadership Seminar in The Virginia Network, a program of the ACE Women’s Network, an editorial board member of the Journal of Performing Arts Leadership in Higher Education, a member of World Dance Alliance – Pacific Asia, Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance, and Shenandoah Arts Council. She is a certified Reiki master teacher, and a higher education consultant for faculty on setting healthy boundaries, navigating difficult situations in the classroom and workplace, and self-care strategies.

Chen holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in dance from the Ohio State University and a Doctor of Education degree in educational leadership from Shenandoah University.