Comprehensive Career Planning and Experiential Learning: A focus on Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors

James Tarbox, Ph.D., Assistant Vice Provost and Executive Director, Stanford Career Education

As the leader of Stanford Career Education, James focuses on building the structures and experiences that empower students to define, develop and advance their careers while at Stanford and throughout their lives. His leadership embodies active commitments to student development, to aligning career development with meaning and purpose, and to strengthening individuals and communities by actively engaging diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

James ties his work with the CareerEd team to active involvement with NACE (naceweb.org), MPACE (mpace.org), AAC&U (aacu.org) and NASPA (naspa.org). He contributes to these organizations by developing future leaders, by serving on a range of committees, presenting at conferences, and by being on an editorial board.

James built his foundation for leadership, career development, and service by pursuing communication-focused degrees at Bates College and the Pennsylvania State University.

Jennifer Rowland, Assistant Dean for Career Education and Associate Director for Experiential Learning

Jennifer Rowland (she/her) is the Assistant Dean for Career Education and Associate Director for Experiential Learning at Stanford Career Education.  In this role, Jennifer collaborates with on and off campus partners and alumni with a focus on making experiential learning opportunities accessible to all students.  The Experiential Learning team supports Stanford students in preparation for their transition from college to a career of meaning and purpose through the CareerEd Fellows program, year-round internship programming and courses, and the Stanford Alumni Mentoring platform.

Prior to joining Stanford Career Education, Jennifer’s career was focused on strategic marketing partnerships and sponsorships working with fortune 500 companies across a variety of industries.  

Jennifer holds an MBA from Pepperdine, a BA in Marketing from Michigan State University, and is a CPCC certified life and career coach.

Xiaotang Huang, Director of Employer Relations and Outcomes, Stanford Career Education

Xiaotang serves as the Director of Employer Relations and Outcomes (ERO) at Stanford Career Education. She leads the ERO team and works strategically with the center, campus partners, and employers to ensure that Stanford students and alumni benefit from a broad range of meaningful internship and employment opportunities. She brings 13 years of extensive partnership building and program management experience to the ERO Director role.

Prior to joining Stanford University, she was the Associate Director for Employer Outreach for the Center for Career Development at Princeton University. She also directed membership and programs for Fulbright grantees in the NY/NJ area at One To World. Xiaotang also served as a Vice President at NYC's Asian American Business Development Center (AABDC), managing networking and fundraising events for the area’s Asian American community. Prior to that, she worked at the University of Pittsburgh for two years, where she also earned her master's degree in public administration.

Theanne Thomson, ’87 (she, her), Director, Alumni Career Connections, Stanford Alumni Association 

Since 2019, Theanne has led the Alumni Career Connections team which is focused on activating the alumni network to support students and alumni in their career journey. Theanne’s team works with global alumni professional groups, alumni connectors and the Stanford schools and centers on career connection events and programs for students and alumni. Theanne also serves as the business lead on the recently refreshed Alumni Directory. 

Theanne received a BA in International Relations from Stanford, and a MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA.  Her career spans a variety of roles (sales, marketing, operations, management consulting, board service) and industries (technology, entertainment, healthcare, financial services, education, consumer products, non-profit), which help her facilitate connections for students and alumni.