Office of AANAPISI Affairs

Dr. Virginia Loh-Hagan

Executive Director for AANAPISI Affairs
Director of the APIDA Center
Email: [email protected]
Office: APIDA Center Room 210A

Dr. Virginia Loh-Hagan is the inaugural Executive Director for AANAPISI Affairs and the inaugural Director of the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Center at San Diego State University. She opened the APIDA Center during the pandemic on July 1, 2020. She strives to establish an inclusive and supportive community for APIDA-identifying students, faculty, and staff. She is also the Founder and Chair of the SDSU APIDA Employee Resource Group. Previously, she served as a faculty member in SDSU’s College of Education where she directed the Liberal Studies program, coordinated several international travel abroad programs, led teaching credential programs, coordinated clinical practice and EdTPA efforts, and taught various courses in education and literacy. Prior to working at SDSU, she was a K-8 classroom teacher, community college reading instructor, program chair for an online university, and research fellow for the University of Pittsburgh. She is the 2023 recipient of California Reading Association's Armin Schultz Literacy Award and the 2016 recipient of California Reading Association’s Marcus Foster Memorial Award for outstanding achievement in reading. She has a B.A. in English and a Masters in Elementary Education (K-8) and Special Education, specializing in Learning Disabilities (K-12), from the University of Virginia. Upon graduation, she received the "Outstanding Woman Scholar in Education" award. She earned her Doctorate in Education with an emphasis in Literacy from SDSU-USD in May 2008; her dissertation—for which she received a ChLA Beiter Graduate Student Research Grant award from the Children’s Literature Association and for which she has published peer-reviewed articles and conducted presentations—was a qualitative study on the cultural authenticity of Asian-American children's literature. She has authored over 450 children's books and has several academic publications about using multicultural children and young adult literature. Most of her books and research address APIDA themes. She is serving on various book award committees and is the Cover Editor and Book Nook columnist for "The California Reader," the premiere professional journal for the California Reading Association. She is also serving as the Co-Executive Director and Director of Curriculum Development for The Asian American Education Project; she is committed to ensuring APIDA histories and narratives are taught in K-12 and beyond. Her hobbies include reading, crafting, gaming (tabletop board games), playing piano, and binge-watching shows.