Moving Forward at Fels

Fels Institute of Government’s new Executive Director Nelson Lim comes at a time of big change for the institute—and that is not an accident. 

“I was interested in coming to Penn Arts and Sciences because the leaders here were committed to change, to expanding on what Fels was already doing,” he says. Along with Lim, this summer saw the appointment of Penn Professor of Criminology and Sociology John MacDonald as the new Penny and Robert A. Fox Faculty Director of the Fels Institute and Penn School of Design Professor of Practice Mark Alan Hughes as the Faculty Director of the new Fels Policy Research Initiative (FPRI).

Lim was previously a senior social scientist for RAND, one of the oldest think-tanks in the U.S. He concentrated on diversity and inclusion issues, working with federal agencies, private companies, and local agencies like police forces and fire departments to improve their workforce diversity. He also was a professor of public policy analysis at Pardee RAND Graduate School and at UCLA.

One of his biggest projects was serving as research director of the Military Leadership Diversity Commission (MLDC) from 2009-2011. Lim was mandated by congress to look at all military personnel policies and make recommendations on how to get more women and minorities into the senior ranks of the armed forces. The most dramatic recommendation the commission made was to eliminate the policy that excluded women from combat situations. 

“The truth is, because of the nature of the war we’re fighting, anyone could be vulnerable for attack. The ‘front line’ is no longer clear,” Lim says. “And when it comes down to it, if you want to become a senior leader in the military, you have to have combat experience.” After a very emotional debate the commissioners unanimously voted to recommend that the policy be changed, and the Department of Defense did change it. 

Diversity issues are always emotional, says Lim, “because it’s about us, about our identity. The U.S. has a very emotional history about race relations as well as gender issues.” He’s been fascinated by race relations since he arrived in the U.S. from Burma at age 21. He spoke no English, “So I learned English, worked at Wendy’s and McDonalds, cleaned toilets, flipped burgers, and went to night school. And, to make a long story short, I got a Ph.D. from UCLA. There are millions of immigrants like that, especially in California. It is an American story.”

After 15 years as an analyst, Lim was drawn to Penn because he wanted to be more directly involved with policy-making. “I’ve proposed hundreds of recommendations to decision makers. Over the years I realized you can have great ideas, but they don’t really mean anything if they can’t be implemented. I want to be part of training administrators who will be at the top of their game.” 

His goal is essentially to make Fels a catalyst for movement in public administration, which will lead to greater diversity and inclusion at the top of public leadership. “The easiest way to imagine our vision is if 10 years from now you go to Google and search diversity, inclusion, and government. Fels should be at the top of that list.”

To learn more about all the changes at Fels, click here.