MDes Leadership

Amy Dinh

Director of Academic Affairs

Amy Dinh has held a variety of roles at the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation since joining the Institute’s founding team in 2015 as the Student Services Advisor. Most recently, these titles have included Associate Director, Academic Affairs; Lecturer for DES INV 95 Design Field Notes; Founding Member of the Jacobs Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee; and Advisor to the MDes Student Association and Jacobs Student Advisory Board. Prior to Jacobs, Amy worked at the Center for Responsible Business at Berkeley Haas and the Office of Service-Learning at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. Throughout all of these roles, Amy’s motivations have been to enrich the student experience, encourage students to connect their academic interests to real-world impact, and collaborate with students, staff, and faculty to create a better world.
Amy holds a B.A. in Human Biology with a concentration in Public & Community Health from Stanford University. She also has a Certificate in Higher Education & Student Affairs from Berkeley Extension. She is currently a candidate in the M.A. Organization & Leadership program from the University of San Francisco’s School of Education, which is designed for leaders who are motivated to transform themselves and their institutions based on principles of justice, democratic participation, and service.
When she is not at work, Amy enjoys spending time in the outdoors, especially cycling, camping, and hiking. She is passionate about sustainable infrastructure, e.g. public transportation, functional walk/cycle paths, and denser and mixed zoning neighborhoods. She also enjoys learning about different cultures through language and cuisine, and welcomes language buddies to help her practice Vietnamese, French, Cantonese, or Spanish.