The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign presents the Campus Awards for Excellence in Faculty Leadership each year to distinguished faculty who enrich the intellectual vitality of the university and the broader community. The awards were presented in three categories — faculty mentoring, distinguished executive officer and outstanding faculty leadership — to five faculty members during a ceremony hosted by the Office of the Provost on campus in March.
Robin Kar, a professor of law and philosophy and associate dean for curricular innovation at the College of Law, received the Outstanding Faculty Leadership Award. This award recognizes faculty members who have provided extraordinary leadership contributions across many dimensions of shared governance that advance the excellence of a unit, a college and/or the campus, and who exemplify the campus commitment to collaborative decision-making. The award is the highest accolade honoring a faculty member whose professional service has advanced progress toward the Illinois mission.
Kar has garnered several key leadership roles for the Urbana campus and the University of Illinois System, acting as a compass for the development and adoption of meaningful shared governance. These roles include serving as interim head of the Department of Philosophy for three years, chair of the Senate Executive Committee for three years, chair and vice chair of the of the University Senate for two years and chair of the Committee on Faculty Sexual Misconduct for one year. Kar established a style of leadership in the Department of Philosophy grounded in impartiality and open communication. He was credited with hiring and retaining philosophy professors that restored the department into a top 50 program globally and elevated it into the intellectually vibrant community that it is today. Kar was also cited for his initial work in 2018 in updating systemwide policies regarding sexual harassment, sexual assault and other forms of sexual misconduct and remains a trusted voice as those matters are continuously monitored. His approach to leadership — amid navigating complex problems — rests on listening to different and sometimes opposing perspectives and then “working creatively to harmonize them.” Kar’s record of shared governance is now being applied to his current leadership role as the inaugural associate dean for curricular innovation in the College of Law.