Nikki Chun

To: The Campus Community
From:
     Kevin Gilmartin, Vice President for Student Affairs
     Jarrid Whitney, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, Enrollment and Career Services 
Date: June 14, 2021
Re: Nikki Chun 

After nearly six years of helping to lead the Institute's undergraduate admissions efforts, most recently as director of undergraduate admissions, Nikki Chun has announced that she will leave Caltech on August 2. Nikki has accepted a position as the inaugural vice provost for enrollment management at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa.

During her tenure at Caltech, Nikki was instrumental in refining the Institute's recruitment and admissions practices and in seeking out the most qualified potential students from a variety of backgrounds. She has brought to her work, to the office, and to the campus an unbridled passion and enthusiasm that fostered an inclusive, diverse, equity-based, and creative community to help the world's most promising scientists, engineers, and scholars find their place at Caltech. 

In her letter of resignation, Nikki talked at length about her time at Caltech. "This has been a humbling and extraordinary experience, and I am grateful for the chance to push boundaries alongside the world's most respected scientists and researchers," she wrote. "I am especially proud of this gorgeous class of incoming students because they reflect years of work by the admissions team and campus partners to shift the demographics of the undergraduate population. I cannot wait to see what all these students will do to change and affect our collective futures for the betterment of us all." A Native Hawaiian who was born and raised in Honolulu until her college years, Nikki sees her move to the University of Hawai'i as a call to return home.

Prior to joining Caltech's community in 2015, Nikki served as the associate director of admissions at Rice University in Texas from 2010 to 2015. Chun earned her bachelor's in communication and master's degree in education in enrollment management from the University of Miami, where she began her professional career in college admissions in 2003. 

A national search for a full-time director, chaired by assistant vice president Jarrid Whitney, along with members of the faculty, staff, and students, will commence immediately with a hire to start no later than October 1.

Please join us in thanking Nikki for her leadership and contribution to Caltech, and in wishing her all the best as she embarks on this new opportunity.