Sara Furr

Sara Furr is the newly appointed Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at The Field Museum. In this position at the Museum, Sara develops, directs, and evaluates the impact of the Field’s diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion strategies and practices. Sara most recently served as the Dean of Students, Inclusion and Equity at The Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at The University of Chicago where she oversaw the outside of the classroom experience for graduate students studying social work including recruitment, admissions, and student affairs. Previously she served as the director of the Center for Identity, Inclusion and Social Change (at DePaul University. In this role, she was responsible for creating and facilitating diversity and social justice education initiatives for students, faculty, staff, and community partners. Prior to this, Sara served as the assistant director of Multicultural Student Success at DePaul. Prior to her work at DePaul University, Sara served as the director of Intercultural Development at Mount St. Mary's University. Additional experiences include work at Fordham University in New York City and Loyola College in Maryland. Over the past 20 years as a professional in Student Affairs, Sara has been actively engaged in all aspects of college life and has specifically led and served in the functional areas of residential life and housing operations; multicultural affairs and intercultural development; and student conduct. She has always remained passionate about social justice education and helping students become agents of change. Sara holds her PhD in Higher Education from Loyola University Chicago. She received her bachelor’s degree in public policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and masters of education in higher education and student affairs from the University of South Carolina. Sara has presented on topics such as identity development, leadership development theory, and power, privilege, and oppression. Her dissertation studied wellness interventions for social justice fatigue among student affairs professionals. As a result of her commitment to the profession and forming meaningful relationships, Sara has served as a Member-at-Large for the Maryland College Personnel Association (MCPA), Education and Advocacy Coordinator for the Asian Pacific American Network (APAN) for the American College Personnel Association and Research and Scholarship Coordinator for APAN and President of the Maryland College Personnel Association. Most recently, Sara served as Equity and Inclusion Chair for the ACPA 2021 International Convention and Co-Chair for the Asian Pacific American Network for the American College Personnel Association. This year, in recognition of her leadership in the field of equity and inclusion, Sara received the ACPA Voices of Inclusion Award. Additionally, Sara has served as part-time faculty for the Masters in Higher Education program at Loyola University Chicago, the Counseling and Higher Education Ed.D. program at Northern Illinois University, the masters in social work program at the University of Chicago and a variety of other programs at DePaul University, Loyola University Maryland, and the University of South Carolina. In her free time, Sara enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, running, getting involved in the community and teaching dance fitness, boot camp, and spin classes.