Kelly Ahn was appointed Executive Director of Industry Relations & Career Strategies at the School of Professional Studies in March 2020 and Associate Dean of the Career Design Lab in July 2021. Ahn brings more than 10 years of achievement in career services and organizational leadership. She most recently served as the Associate Dean of Graduate Student Career Development at the Columbia University Center for Career Education (CCE), where she supported graduate students and alumni for more than seven years.
At CCE, Ahn launched several initiatives including the inaugural Ivy 3-Minute Thesis competition, held in partnership with industry leaders and higher education faculty and administrators from seven Ivy League institutions. The competition provided a forum for students to showcase their research before recruiters and members of the general public. An experienced senior executive, Ahn has held leadership positions such as Director of Student Success Career Services at The New School and Director of Career Development at Manhattan College. Prior to her work in higher education, Kelly served as a mental health counselor for LGBT Asian-Pacific Islander youth in New York City and co-founded the Crimson Language Institute, a higher education learning and consulting firm in Seoul, Korea.
Ahn earned a B.A. in Psychology from Hamilton College and an Ed.M. in Educational Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is currently pursuing her Ed.D. in Adult Learning and Leadership from Columbia as well. In 2009 and 2010, Ahn was selected by the Fulbright Scholar Program and Institute of International Education (IIE) to participate in International Education Administrators seminars in Germany and Australia, respectively.
