The Graduate College is proud to announce that Derek Attig, the assistant dean for career and professional development, has been elected president-elect of the Graduate Career Consortium. The GCC is an international organization serving higher education professionals working in graduate student career development.

As part of GCC's Executive Committee, Attig will lead strategic initiatives for the rapidly growing organization. Previously, Attig was a GCC Regional Director and a member of its Governance Committee, piloting a digital collaborative space among universities to help increase and enhance career resources for graduate students.

Attig has overseen programming and advising services at the Graduate College for over 18,000 graduate students and 600 postdoctoral scholars for the past six years. "Since 2003, the Graduate College at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign has offered world-class career and professional development support for graduate students and postdocs. In this new role with the GCC, I am excited to use what I have learned here to support the flourishing of those services at universities around the world," said Derek Attig.

Over the next year, as President-elect of the GCC, they will lead initiatives to make the GCC an even more inclusive and collaborative organization. They will also coordinate planning for a conference that will bring hundreds of graduate career professionals together in San Francisco to learn from one another.

Attig says, "The GCC is an organization of people who care deeply about graduate students and graduate education. Thanks to my time in the Graduate College, I know how powerful such a community can be, and I'm thrilled to play a part in leading it over the next few years."

Starting August 1, 2021, Attig will be President-Elect for one year, then-President for one year, then Past-President for one year.

Photo of Derek Attig by L. Brian Stauffer.