Kelly Vaughn: Wise & Courageous
A conversation about overcoming challenges and thriving as a leader.
We’re publishing our newest content on our Substack newsletter while we undergo some behind-the-scenes maintenance at The Well. Thank you for your patience! Read on for our latest from The Women Scholars & Professionals Podcast.
Welcome to The Wise & Courageous Podcast, where we host conversations with women leaders about how they are seeking and engaging wisdom and courage in their leadership and work in this unique season.
“We say we can do it ourselves, but we can’t — we have to bring others in and work as a community and hear their input-as valued as our own.” — Kelly Vaughn
Kelly Vaughn, newly appointed Dean for the School of Education at Notre Dame De Namur University, joins Nancy Pedulla on The Wise & Courageous Podcast for a conversation about her winding and unexpected professional and personal journey to her current role, which began because of a momentous time in her childhood.
How do our encounters with adversity and difficulty shape our journey? Kelly Vaughn shares two of the incredible challenges of her life and explores the way people around her impacted her growth in resilience and her values. She describes a Jacob season and Moses season and how they have shaped her leadership. Kelly talks about her career journey and the way surprises in her pathway impacted her understanding of herself and her passions. We explore the way the community undergirds the way she does her work and practices her faith. When we had this conversation, Kelly was in the role of Interim Dean and doing the hard work of leading in a transitional season. Listen for the ways she has been prepared for her new leadership role.
For the purposes of this podcast, we are defining leadership as the stewardship of people, culture and purpose, guiding and serving others toward a shared vision or outcomes.
Welcome to the conversation!
— Nancy Pedulla
You can listen on iTunes or at The Women Scholars & Professionals Podcast. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.
Listen on your favorite podcast platform, or click through to listen to our interview with Kelly on:
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Further resources for this interview:
Learn more about the online prayer meetings Kelly mentions, sponsored by Women Scholars & Professionals
Nancy mentions this book in her comments: The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves by Curt Thompson
Dr. Tsehsien “Kelly” Vaughn was appointed permanent Dean of the School of Education at NDNU on December 1, 2025, after serving as Interim Dean since May 2024. Throughout her career as an educator, researcher, and leader, Kelly has learned that courageous and faithful leadership means advocating for equity, embracing collaboration, and remaining steadfast in service to students and colleagues. Her research on racial disparities in teacher credentialing and her work in curriculum development and social emotional learning reflect a commitment to reform and resilience, even when facing complex challenges.
Kelly’s journey has been shaped not only by her academic achievements—degrees from UCLA, San Francisco State, and Stanford—but also by personal experiences: growing up with limited income, facing isolation and enduring heavy discrimination, and supporting a mother with mental illness. As a teenager, she also learned the power of kindness, particularly from members of a church community her family didn’t understand at the time, but would later deeply appreciate in adulthood. These experiences deepened her empathy and resolve, teaching her that true leadership is rooted in humility, integrity, and a willingness to listen and learn. Recognized with the Sr. Catharine Julie Cunningham Memorial Teaching and Research Award in 2024, she continues to model excellence by integrating research, teaching, and the Hallmarks of NDNU, inspiring others to lead with courage and faith.