Episode 33: Building a New Bench of Women Leaders: UIndy President Tanuja Singh on Impact and Access

In this episode of Luminate: Navigating the Unknown Through Creative Leadership, host Sarah Hempstead speaks with Dr. Tanuja Singh, president of the University of Indianapolis.

Dr. Singh shares her extraordinary journey from particle physics in India to purposeful leadership in higher education. She discusses the importance of belonging, mentorship, and preparing the next generation of women leaders—offering a candid and inspiring look at what it means to lead with empathy, curiosity and conviction.

Key highlights:

• From particle physics to people-centered leadership
  Singh began her career in science, but discovered her true calling in higher education—where she could make a personal impact. “I liked particles, but I liked people better,” she said.
• Parental support and early empowerment
  Raised in a household that valued independence and education, Singh credits her father—a self-described feminist—for instilling in her the belief that she could do anything.
• Creating community and belonging
  Her decision to attend Millsaps College in Mississippi was shaped by a sense of personal connection. That same value of caring deeply for individuals now informs her leadership at UIndy.
• Empowering women leaders through action
  Singh helped launch the Women’s Executive Leadership Institute, a program rooted in mentorship, skill-building and support for emerging women leaders across industries in Indiana.
• Reimagining lifelong learning
  Through UIndy Online and the CS Institute, Singh is championing accessible, real-world education for adults seeking to reskill or upskill in today’s rapidly changing workforce.
• Curiosity as a leadership imperative
  Singh underscores the role of curiosity in personal and professional growth. “Higher education is where your mind learns to be resilient, adaptable and imaginative,” she said.
• A global perspective on education and equity
  Singh calls for renewed investment in U.S. higher education, warning that countries like India and China are rapidly advancing their research and experiential learning infrastructures.
• Leading with purpose—one student at a time
  Singh’s legacy is rooted in helping others discover their potential. Whether it’s a student gaining confidence or a professional finding their voice, her mission is to inspire belief in what’s possible.
• Recharge through travel and reflection
  A passionate traveler, Singh finds joy in exploring new cultures—and sees it as a way to better understand shared human values.

Singh also shares two compelling reads: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, and In Case of Emergency, Break Glass, a book about finding calm and clarity in an overstimulated digital world.

This episode is a must-listen for educators, leaders, and anyone committed to building a more inclusive, curious, and purpose-driven future. Hear how Dr. Tanuja Singh is shaping the future of higher education—one meaningful connection at a time.

Subscribe to Luminate: Navigating the Unknown Through Creative Leadership to stay inspired and informed!

Transcript

Sarah Hempstead: [00:00:00] Welcome to Luminate, navigating the Unknown Through Creative Leadership. I'm Sarah Hempstead, principal in charge, and CEO at Schmidt Associates, and a passionate believer in the power of intentional leadership. And today I'm honored to sit down with someone whose impact on higher education spans decades, and whose leadership continues to shape institutions and to inspire individuals.

Sarah Hempstead: Dr. Tania Singh is the president of the University of Indianapolis, and her path to that role has crossed continents, cultures, and communities. Thanks for being here. 

Sarah Hempstead: Dr. S, you've had a tremendous career in academia, but I always like to start at the very beginning. So did you always know that education is where you wanted to end up?

Dr. Singh: You know, interestingly, no. Growing up, actually, I was very interested in the sciences. I studied science. I was a physicist when I went to college, and I really wanted to be a scientist, you know, doing scientific things in close quarters. It was over time that I [00:01:00] realized that while I loved that, I loved the people part of it even better, and I always say this to people, I was doing physics and of course I was doing particle physics.

Dr. Singh: I say that I like particles, but I like people better. So I moved from particles to people and um, really got into higher education quite by, not by accident, but it wasn't a well thought out plan. I wanted to be a scientist and sometimes my mom reminds me that I have told her that I wanted to be an astronaut.

Dr. Singh: So those things actually worked out pretty well conceptually, but I ended up in higher ed. So talk about 

Sarah Hempstead: doing particle physicist in the time you were doing it, there probably weren't a lot of women in that field. Absolutely. I believe we 

Dr. Singh: had a class of about 46 people. There was six women in a cla, in a master's class in physics.

Dr. Singh: And I was even, you know, even among those women, because I [00:02:00] was studying more the quantum, the particle part of it, I was probably one or two. In a class of 46. And it was interesting that I was really good in math, very good in science, and even one of my professors who I thought was a big supporter, he said, you know, have you thought about doing something else?

Dr. Singh: And I said, no, I like physics and I like math. It was interesting. At that time that was really different and I'm very happy that I did it. I believe all the women that were in my class helped set short of a path for other women to do it. Now, of course, there are a lot more women doing physics and particle physics, and we've talked a little bit about your mom and your dad.

Dr. Singh: Were both totally supportive of that. Yeah. My parents are. Our house was full of books. They are. They both went to college. And my mom thinks still, my dad has since passed, but my mom thinks I can do anything. My dad was more reasonable. He kind of helped me focus a little bit more, but my dad was the one from the very early age.

Dr. Singh: He said, I [00:03:00] never want you to depend on anyone for your emotional, for your mental, for your financial wellbeing. I always said he was an original feminist. He brought me up to believe in myself and you know, even when I had doubts, I would go to my parents. So they were extremely supportive. In fact, when I wanted to change from physics to business and got my next degree in, you know, business, and then of course my doctorate, he was the one who said, you do what makes you happy and what makes you feel fulfilled, which was really important for me to hear.

Dr. Singh: I love that. So when you're going to school for physics, where were you going to school? I was in India. There's a university, it's a pretty well-known old university called University of Ala Habad. And then I studied there. And after that, of course, since I didn't want to do physics. I took this exam in India, that is a banking exam.

Dr. Singh: Go figure. I supposedly did very well. And they offered me, they said, what do you wanna do? And I said, I [00:04:00] wanna do export. Import, of course, not knowing anything about export. Why not export? Import? Why not? You know, I'm reminded of that Seinfeld episode in this one. But I did export. I was in a division. They rotate you through multiple divisions.

Dr. Singh: I liked it a lot. And then I said, you know, I think this idea of economics and business. Makes a lot of sense to me how nations develop and how export, how these theories work. And uh, that's when I decided I was gonna go get an MBA and came here, came to the US and went to Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.

Dr. Singh: Loved it and really learned a lot. Was a small university like the one I'm now at University of Indianapolis. It was actually even smaller small class sizes and that's where actually I thought. You know, I wonder if I should explore a career in higher education after I got my master's. And a lot of people I talked to said, you should go get a doctorate.

Dr. Singh: Because I was supposedly good in class. I taught as a graduate assistant and [00:05:00] one of my faculty said, you know, you do really well in classroom and have you ever given it some thought? And at that time I said, maybe I'll try it. But it wasn't a very concrete formed vision. That's what I wanted to do. India 

Sarah Hempstead: to Mississippi.

Sarah Hempstead: That's a pretty big, that's a pretty big change. Yes, it is. Did you have family here or just you? 

Dr. Singh: No, actually, so my brother and I came together. He went to Missouri and in fact he asked me the same question because I could have gone to other places. But at that time I, in, in Mississippi, I had a couple of people I knew and that was probably, and the school, so this is an example of when a school makes a difference.

Dr. Singh: Of all the schools I applied to, there were several that were reaching out, but Millsaps at that time did a really good job of keeping in touch. They offered me more financial aid, although international students don't get much at all, but whatever little, I got more from them than somebody else. And they were just very clear that they [00:06:00] wanted me there and that's what helped me make a decision.

Dr. Singh: You know, I was, I could have gone to University of Illinois. Several other places, but that's where I went. And that was primarily because of how, it seemed like they cared about me more than any other place. 

Sarah Hempstead: But that's so interesting because I see the, I see the mirror image of that in your leadership at, at the university now is making your students feel like they're cared about.

Sarah Hempstead: Yeah. More than any other. More than any other place. 

Dr. Singh: Yeah. And you know, that's what makes a difference. You know, we live in a world now that is. They are, some of our young people are worried about what the world looks like, where they're going. And I believe that somebody that, that faculty and leadership, if they can demonstrate it in very meaningful, tangible ways about, no you, we do care about you.

Dr. Singh: We care about your future, we wanna support you. And that has to be. More than words, it has to be actions and mentorship. That was, in fact one of the reasons I came to UIndi. The ability to impact [00:07:00] lives one student at a time in a way that's more intimate, that's more meaningful, that's more caring. So if you have, if you think 

Sarah Hempstead: back about the people who kind of helped illustrate that for you, do you have a specific example or a person.

Sarah Hempstead: Who showed you how to do that? How to make people feel like they belong, that you think about and use every day? 

Dr. Singh: Yeah, you know lot of, lots and lots of them, but there are actually two people I wanna mention. One who is still one of my biggest mentors, and this happened later when I was a business school dean.

Dr. Singh: I was in San Antonio, I was a business school dean at St. Mary's University. And he was our MA at the school's named for him, bill Gree. And he showed me by both actions and words that you have to care about people at a level that's more than just what sounds cliched. I remember going into his company and he knew the names of the G managers there.

Dr. Singh: Not only did he know their names, he [00:08:00] knew that Ruth's son was in high school and that he played football and. That you can't fake. So I felt that part. And it showed in his leadership, when he was leading all these companies, they consistently ranked among the top about employees. And then his executive Vice President, Mary Rose Brown, who I very sadly lost last year, she's a dear friend.

Dr. Singh: She showed the same example about, you know, caring for people, in fact results in better outcomes than just talking from leadership books. And that has made a big difference to me about. Genuinely caring for what you believe in caring for people in a way that's more than just what sounds the latest trend.

Sarah Hempstead: So when you joined UND 2023, not very long ago. Yeah. Pivotal moment. 

Dr. Singh: Today is my two year anniversary. We tried to schedule 

Sarah Hempstead: Exactly, exactly. Anniversary. How's it going so 

Dr. Singh: far? It's going 

Sarah Hempstead: fantastic. Fantastic. [00:09:00] Okay, so 2023 was a pretty pivotal moment. The university, this was a big transition for that. They had the same president for a long time.

Sarah Hempstead: The city was changing. I feel like we were really just pulling out of COVID worldwide as world as well. What drew you there? What made the University of Indianapolis really stand out? And the city too? Yeah, so both 

Dr. Singh: from the university perspective, I always look at how relevant, how responsive. Programs, are they teaching stuff that people actually care about?

Dr. Singh: And if you look at the University of Indianapolis, the programs that we have from our health sciences to engineering, to business to education, to psychology to physics, there is a lot of demand for what they do. And the quality of the programs is really good. And they are taught in a very personal. Man, which is very, which is what I spoke about earlier.

Dr. Singh: They're also very connected with the outside world. They're [00:10:00] connected with the community, they're connected with the industry, and of course we are building on it. So that part was really important to me because you can build from a strong foundation and it has this amazing commitment to, you know, equity, to providing opportunities for, to people who may not otherwise have them.

Dr. Singh: And our faculty bend over backwards to do that. So that was a really big thing for me. The other one, Indianapolis, was particularly attractive. It is growing a lot. The industry here is hungry for talent. The government here is hungry for talent. The not-for-profits here are hungry for talent, and not many people know about it.

Dr. Singh: So it is easy to develop the connections, the collaborations with industries, with government, with with not-for-profits. I'm a big believer that our students, before they ever graduate, they should have experiences in classrooms that are very much real world. So we have students doing internships, we have students doing industry sponsored project, and the city provides us the opportunity [00:11:00] to do that in a meaningful, systematic and systemic way.

Dr. Singh: And then I have to tell you, I just love the people in Indianapolis. It was. I had not, I'd been here a long time ago and everywhere I went it was whether you went to the post office, you went to a grocery store, people talk to you in such welcoming kind way. The city's amazing. There's so much going on. We don't realize the city has everything that big other cities have from music to theater, to art.

Dr. Singh: So I, those were some of the initial reasons and I have, they have been validated time and again. Since my arrival two years ago. 

Sarah Hempstead: So since you've been there, I mean, I've seen the growth in engineering. I've seen the growth in linkages to the community and transformative gifts to students. One of, one of the big areas of growth is.

Sarah Hempstead: Advocacy for women in leadership and programs that do that in including the Women's [00:12:00] Executive Leadership Institute and one, one of our Schmidt staff members is participating in that. Can you talk a little bit about that, because it's such a cool model of growing a new group of young leaders in Indianapolis.

Dr. Singh: I'm so glad you asked that. So when I arrived here, we have done, and we hope we can talk a little bit about that. Uh, we've started this, this UND online and the C Institute. The CS Institute is primarily for upskilling and re-skilling of people, the workforce, however you want to call it. One of the big opportunities we have is developing more women in leadership.

Dr. Singh: Indianapolis is very lucky. Indiana is lucky. We have a lot of women. Look at you. I mean women in leadership who are doing amazing things. What I've always felt is that we need to build a bench. We need to create the next generation of leaders, and there are a lot of really great leadership programs. Our model is just maybe a little different.

Dr. Singh: It's a 10 month program once a month. It's [00:13:00] all day Friday. What we do is in addition to hearing from really successful leaders in a variety of industries, we also then compliment it with actual skill development. Let's say if you have a conversation around networking in the morning, someone tells you they got to where they got to from networking in the afternoon, we will actually have a workshop.

Dr. Singh: And it is consistent messaging, but also actual work that they can do. And we are hoping that these women, we have, in fact, we, so we offered it and we thought we'll get maybe 20 people. We have 36 registered women executives, and we have a waiting list of 11. There is need for this program, and my hope is that we can do it every year.

Dr. Singh: This is the cohort that'll then help build the next cohort, and I believe it is helping us prepare this bench strength among women in different industries, from sports, to engineering, to architecture, to a [00:14:00] finance that they can then be the leaders that we would like them to be at the next level. 

Sarah Hempstead: Do you think there's unique challenges in that cohort group that the, that institutes like, like that can help 

Dr. Singh: solve?

Dr. Singh: Yes. So if you look at, you know, from a, in, in, in terms of this particular cohort is very diverse. So they are, there are women from not-for-profits, there are lawyers, they're engineers, and what they are looking at in their own organizations is while women are. They, you know, they start at the same level.

Dr. Singh: They start, there's enough evidence. Women are in fact getting more degrees, but at some level then they don't move up. If you look at where about 29% of women, there are only 29%, um, CEOs in this country of Fortune 500 are women. It's not different in government. It's not different actually, in Indiana, it's not different federally.

Dr. Singh: So what they're noticing is [00:15:00] that level, what happens at that level that they can no longer move to the. Next level. And that's what we are trying to get across to them. And there are some very interesting life lessons, if you will, that have been shared by some really significant women who came to speak and who are coming to speak.

Dr. Singh: They talk about the need and ability and comfort with taking certain kinds of risks and, but it's easy to say take a risk, but it's. Better to see what somebody else has done and what that translates into. And that has been very useful. There's one part, there are several women who have said that since they started this program, they have already implemented a lot of the stuff they have learned in this into their life.

Dr. Singh: One recently asked for a promotion that she said she was so afraid to ask for, for the past, you know, almost couple of years. And I'm absolutely convinced that she's gonna get it. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, that I, this to me just brings joy to me. And the other one is I spend [00:16:00] one Friday a month.

Dr. Singh: I am actually spending the whole day with them just because I care about it so much. Mm-hmm. And the, this is the first cohort and I spend the entire day listening to their stories and really also teaching a little bit in the program. 

Sarah Hempstead: And I think it's something that is maybe not unique to the Indianapolis community, but something that, that I have found somewhat unique here.

Sarah Hempstead: Is the power of network in central Indiana. Build. Building that network with other leaders of all types has been immensely helpful, is learning their stories and it's the kind of place where, where knowing lots of people is very helpful. 

Dr. Singh: Yeah, it's the biggest small city I have. I know. It really is. And you know, people are also genuinely interested in helping you.

Dr. Singh: They are. When you ask for help. People said, let me know what I can do for you here. People do that for you. Which I just find so refreshing. So 

Sarah Hempstead: yeah, it is a almost never that if I've [00:17:00] called to have a meeting with anyone in the Indianapolis region that they've said no. Yeah. Most people say yes. Yeah. So talk about the CS Institute writ large and kind of its role in, in lifelong learning because the CS Institute and UND online, you know, both are huge initiatives and are growing immensely at a time when there's a giant need for it.

Dr. Singh: So two things. So UND online, if you think about it in Indiana, if you look at just the statistic of the state, we have lots of people that started college but never finished. And they have extremely valuable skills, but life got in the way and or got in the way or maybe just, you know, it wasn't the right time.

Dr. Singh: So UND online is primarily a, that, that unit that enables you to finish something you started. It also enables you to recharge your career if that's what you wanna do. Take completely another degree. We have some programs where people are coming from different industries and going into new programs and starting a whole new degree.

Dr. Singh: But that for the most part, it is what we call our post-traditional [00:18:00] learners. CS Institute is for those people who might say, look, I have a degree. I don't need to go to college and get a degree. I need to learn how AI is impacting my business. Or I need to know how to better use data analytics. So it's more a credential based, certificate based, training based program.

Dr. Singh: And we are, we know that even in Indiana, the need to reskill and upskill is really large. Just data from the World Economic Forum says, and this is a few years old, that by the year 20 30, 40 7% of the skills that people currently have will no longer be relevant. So we are constantly relearning. I am a big believer in lifelong learning.

Dr. Singh: In fact, I'm taking an online class and artificial intelligence, which you know is, is scary and wonderful at the same time. So we are big believers that. Educational institutions should not be ivory towers. We should be engaging with the community. In fact, our mission is that we will [00:19:00] teach you whatever is the need at the time, anywhere, anytime for life and learning is no longer linear.

Dr. Singh: And I know that people are coming back. So this is for anyone that wants to reengage with this thing called academia, but also learn it. Learn it in a way that's helpful to them. And you're also 

Sarah Hempstead: talking about the role of curiosity in being a. A full human being, which I think is really interesting and is sometimes absent from our conversation about the role of higher education.

Sarah Hempstead: But as a daughter of a university professor, that was, it was always something we talked about in my house is the value of being curious and continuing to nurture that through. 

Dr. Singh: You know what, and absolutely. So University of Indianapolis, our foundation is the liberal arts, and if you look at the skills that are discipline agnostic.

Dr. Singh: It doesn't matter whether you're an engineer, whether you're a finance person, whether you're in education. That fundamental thing about curiosity, the fundamental thing about complex [00:20:00] problem solving, cognitive adaptability, because if you think about it. Look at how we have adapted to technology over time, you know?

Dr. Singh: And that is if you have that ability, if your mind is flexible and resilient and that's what you develop. Universities are really important for teaching skills, but they're equally important, and in fact, more important for helping develop curiosity. If you look at entrepreneurs. What is it that helps them become successful?

Dr. Singh: They're curious about how to solve a problem in a better, more efficient way, and I believe that higher education is truly the only place where you have the ability to develop that aspect of your mind. When you come, you can study anything and you can study it the way you want. How do you explore? And that exploration is so important.

Dr. Singh: It's such an important part of higher education. 

Sarah Hempstead: So as you see 

Dr. Singh: higher 

Sarah Hempstead: education continue to evolve. How do you imagine that? How can it continue to nurture, [00:21:00] nurture that base of curiosity? It seems like the most dangerous person in the room is the one who's not curious. Yeah, I agree. 

Dr. Singh: And you know, so is two ways.

Dr. Singh: One, for some unfortunate reason, we are questioning the value of higher education, you know, in this country, which is, if you look at all the thing that brought me to this country was really not an economic necessity. I was doing fine in India. It was really how. Phenomenal. The higher education system in the United States is it enables you to do the things we are talking about, right?

Dr. Singh: Sure. So the other part though is academia also bears some responsibility. To be able to talk about the importance of it. This is not, we shouldn't be apologists, we should say, here is why it matters. It matters because all your entrepreneurial challenges that you are trying to solve, they come from people who are educated in a way that respects curiosity.

Dr. Singh: And I believe we need to make sure that the, these stories are told by successful [00:22:00] people who have benefited from it and how it helps the nations. The worry that I have is countries like China, and it's not a worry. I mean, it's China and India and everybody else. They are investing in their higher education.

Dr. Singh: Uh, we recently created some partnerships in India when we went to visit the universities, their labs, their experiential learning opportunities. Are as good, if not better, than what we see in the United States. So if we want to remain comparative as an economy, we need to make sure that we invest more, not less in higher education.

Dr. Singh: Nobel Prize winners come to the United States, many of them from other countries, because this place provides the best place for research, the best place for exploration, and the best place to study the most complex problems. As 

Sarah Hempstead: you see students now coming into the university system now, what do they need that is maybe different than the students you saw 20 years [00:23:00] ago?

Dr. Singh: You know, the one thing we are realizing in our university and everyone else, first, I truly believe that our students are smart. They care about the world. In fact, if anything, they care a lot more than some of us did. Perhaps. I believe they need someone to validate them. They need someone to tell them that the what they're seeking.

Dr. Singh: A just society, an equitable society, diverse perspectives, a global perspective is not something they can only dream about. That is very real and it matters a lot. So to the extent that we can make sure that we are addressing their need to feel, find purpose, I have had more conversations with my undergraduate students about purpose.

Dr. Singh: They what they wanna do, then I am absolutely sure then when I'm going to college. So when I was going to college. So I think that's a big difference. The other one is, and this probably happens every so often, you know, they're [00:24:00] anxious. We are seeing a significant increase in this anxiety. Among our young students, and it is, and we are providing services to them to make sure that they have, they address it both from a career perspective, but they also address it from a personal financial perspective.

Dr. Singh: Sure. And I believe it's the role of the universities to make sure that we provide them an environment where they feel safe, where they feel valued, and where we respect their purpose-filled approach to living. 

Sarah Hempstead: So when you. Think ahead for you beyond your title, beyond where the institution itself goes, what do you think, when you think about legacy, what do you hope your legacy will be?

Dr. Singh: You know, I care deeply about developing people, providing them the opportunities, and making education accessible. But I am particularly passionate about people. Who don't [00:25:00] typically get that opportunity. Hence my commitment to this. Developing women leaders or leaders from any group that don't feel like they, they can seek those places.

Dr. Singh: When my students call me from way back when and now they are doing amazing things and they, one of the things they said, you made us believe in ourselves. You helped us dream better. And that to me, I think is the biggest compliment. So I'm hoping that somebody someday says, you know, she helped me get over that fear I had of not taking chances, not taking risks, and looking and really fulfilling my purpose in life.

Dr. Singh: And you're far too young to think about legacy sometimes far in the future. You know, but you never know. And I don't even think about legacy, but that's something I'm really passionate about. You know, ha, having people, giving them the chance and making them believe in themselves. I'm not, you know, they have the skillset.

Dr. Singh: They just need to be able to believe in what [00:26:00] they're capable of doing. 

Sarah Hempstead: And that's such a, that's such a great point. It goes back to students who are. Looking to fulfill their purpose and their maybe have some anxiety about their ability to do that. I mean, and if you talk about the ripple effect of one student at a time, being able to achieve whatever their goals are, that's pretty extraordinary.

Sarah Hempstead: Whether they stay here in Indiana or, you know, go across the world, you know, do their best work. Yeah. So you've been doing this for a while. Mm-hmm. You've been doing education for a while. What's the motivation when you get up every day? It's rain, rainy this morning it was, it's early. What's your motivation 

Dr. Singh: every day?

Dr. Singh: You know what we just talked about? I am in academia because I find it very purposeful and it sounds cliche and I'm not saying that there are not days when say, you know, I really don't wanna do it today, that are always in all our lives. But to me, I truly come to work every day. [00:27:00] Feeling, just a sense of excitement most days, no matter how difficult it is.

Dr. Singh: Because even if I did one thing in my grand scheme of things that I want to do, and I did it right, and I did it in a purposeful way, that matters a lot to me. And I don't do things that, and I worked with industry and I loved consulting when I was a faculty and I had opportunities to go consult. I just felt that from my, where I was in that point in life, I just felt that this mentoring of young leaders, the ability to create the next group of leaders or people who consider themselves filled with a higher purpose was important to me.

Dr. Singh: So I love what I do and I haven't gotten bored yet, so, so we'll see. And so we'll see. So you haven't 

Sarah Hempstead: gotten bored yet, which is. One of the keys certainly, but another key is finding a way to get recharged. How? How do you think about that? How do you make time for it and what 

Dr. Singh: do you do? Yeah, and you know, [00:28:00] people talk about a balance in life and I'm a big believer that you are never gonna have a fully balanced life.

Dr. Singh: There're gonna be sometimes Totally agree. Totally agree. There's gonna be some times when you will have those 15 hour, 16 hour days, and that's okay. But if you do, but you can't do 16 hour days every day, you know? What I do is, so I have some, I read a lot. I love to travel and I am a foodie, so I will literally drive to another city to just eat at a different place.

Dr. Singh: But I, and I meditate and I, I used to run, but now I walk a lot. Walking to me is therapy, and unlike other people that have to do this first thing in the morning. I walk at the end of the day because it helps me just get away and I like to walk outside. So those are some of the things. But if you had to ask me which of that group, I would say traveling internationally and to different places, I have think, I think I've been to 40, 43, 44 countries now.

Dr. Singh: Oh, that's Impress. And I just love, absolutely [00:29:00] love that 

Sarah Hempstead: travel. Okay. No, eventually I'm gonna change this to a travel blog. Where would you recommend, where does everybody have to go that they might not think about going? 

Dr. Singh: You know, there's so many places, but there are two places that I believe that everybody should go.

Dr. Singh: One is Egypt. There's no other country in the world like Egypt. It literally takes your breath away to go there and say, 4,000 years ago, they had, they knew about brain surgery. They had performed brain surgery, right? It is just completely out of this world. And the other place that I absolutely love, love is Kenya.

Dr. Singh: I was there for just about 12 days, 10 or 12 days. And just being in nature in the midst of this, you know, country with so many people, and even in Nairobi. If you go to just the Nairobi National Park, and of course we were in the Mara. I loved that. [00:30:00] I don't think I can really categorize them, but those are two countries that are, I would go back anytime, actually, I'll go back to any of the countries.

Dr. Singh: I've gone back anytime. Oh, another one is Iceland. That one is completely, it looks like another planet altogether. 

Sarah Hempstead: So what do you get from travel? When you travel? What does it bring to your life 

Dr. Singh: apart from. The fact that I'm in a country where people are different, languages are different, food is different.

Dr. Singh: I believe it. I realize as how connected we are in so many ways. Cultural connectivity was one of my, I used to talk about it all the time that at the fundamentally most of the world wants really the same things. And it just is such a joy for me to hear about people's perspective on everything from education to family life, to what they care about.

Dr. Singh: I have, I'm very fortunate, I have friends from around the world and there are very few countries where I can go to and not say, oh yeah, I know, so, and, and I'll look them up. So I'm very fortunate and I. [00:31:00] I continue to do this. I just absolutely love traveling. I think 

Sarah Hempstead: it twains the death, travels, the death of bigotry.

Sarah Hempstead: So yes, absolutely. I'm misquoting him terribly, but absolutely don't get the Absolutely, 

Dr. Singh: yes. It's absolutely, you know, if you travel, you realize how similar people are to you. The thing is though, people are afraid to travel. Yes. And once you get over that, I think it becomes easier. 

Sarah Hempstead: One question I ask all our guests, what are you currently reading or what's one book you recommend that everybody read?

Sarah Hempstead: Oh, lots of books. So I 

Dr. Singh: am, I just finished this book literally yesterday, and I'm not saying everybody read it, but it's a, it's a wonderful book called Demon Copperfield. It's by Barbara King Solver. I love all her works and I think I'm saying her last name correctly. Uh, I've read all her work. This was phenomenal.

Dr. Singh: I'm also reading a very interesting book. It's called In Case of Emergency Break Glass or something like that. It's [00:32:00] about this heavy tech world that we live in and how to find your inner philosopher, if you will, and how to get away from this, you know, constant technological fomo, one, two, finding joy in something away.

Dr. Singh: I've just started that one. But I, I also read a lot, so I could give you a book list that's probably, you know, you could just keep going. Yeah. I could keep going. Like, of everything I've read in the past few months, so yeah. 

Sarah Hempstead: That's excellent. Dr. Singh, thank you so much for joining us. Your commitment to students and leadership.

Sarah Hempstead: The future of Higher Education South Side of Indianapolis is incredibly inspiring. And thank you to our listeners for tuning in to illuminate navigating the Unknown through creative leadership. And be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at Schmidt Associates.

Sarah Hempstead: And until next time, keep navigating the unknown with creativity and confidence.