Faculty Representative to the Board, 2025 – 2027
Tula Goenka is a Professor of Television, Radio and Film at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She is also the graduate program director for her department.
Goenka first came to Syracuse University as an international graduate student in 1984, and received her Master of Science in Television-Radio from Newhouse in 1986. She then moved to New York City to work as a production coordinator for MTV Networks before becoming a film editor for Mira Nair, Spike Lee, and James Ivory, among others. She now produces and edits her own documentaries, including the multimedia storytelling Look Now Project about those touched by breast cancer. First and foremost, Goenka is a filmmaker and public scholar, and believes in the power of storytelling to illuminate oppression, heal trauma, and create positive change. The common thread in all her pursuits is her deep interest in women’s rights, equity, resilience and the use of art, and music, to build awareness and preserve heritage.
Goenka is the author of “Not Just Bollywood: Indian Directors Speak.” In 2008, Goenka created the SUBollywood program offered through Syracuse University Abroad, and has taken more than 50 Newhouse students to Mumbai for the month-long immersion. She is a co-founder of Sakhi for South Asian Women, a New York City-based organization working to end violence against women. She also served on the board of directors of Breakthrough, an international human rights organization, for 11 years. She co-created the annual SU Rising event, a candlelight vigil to stop sexual assault on the Syracuse University campus, and has served on the Chancellor’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence. She is the founder and co-director of the annual Syracuse University Human Rights Film Festival and Digital Witness Symposium.
Goenka was born and raised in India and completed her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Madras, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Social Communications Media from the University of Bombay. She continues to be very involved in the South Asian community in America, and she served as co-director of the federally funded South Asia Center, part of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs from 2012-14. She is affiliated with Women's and Gender Studies, as well as South Asian Studies at Syracuse University.
In 2009, Goenka received the Chancellor’s Award of Excellence for Engaging the World, and the Chancellor’s Awards for Public Engagement and Scholarship, 2014 Inspiration Award, partly because of her social justice work. She was the Newhouse Endowed Chair of Public Communications for 2016-19, and the Newhouse Dean’s inaugural Leadership Fellow from 2022-25.
Goenka was a member of the Senate Agenda Committee from 2022-25 and has been a member of the Academic Affairs Committee of the Senate since 2017.
Goenka is serving a two-year term as faculty representative from 2025-27. She participates, ex officio, on the Board Academic Affairs Committee and reports to the Board at Executive Committee and full Board meetings.