About Us

Academy Board Members:

Executive Members

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  Biosketch

  William Patrick Barlow recently retired as director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning for Madison Area Technical College. While there, he supported 3000 full and part-time faculty in their person pursuit of professional development and advised the college leadership to develop college-wide training. He continues to teach as an adjunct faculty member and present workshops on teaching and learning. He has been a faculty member in Speech and Theater at Madison College for 13 years. He has produced and directed over 175 productions serving as the artistic director of the theater production program. Before that, he was a high school theater/speech teacher and director and forensics coach in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

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  Biosketch

  Chaya Jain is a professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Virginia State University and has been an active member of the AoPE community since 2014. A dedicated proponent of PE‘s core values combining student-centered equal opportunities for self-growth-oriented teaching and learning, scholarship and service, Chaya's goal is to share and help create PE synergies to strengthen the Academy and her Institution’s peer community. She initiated the PE Academy's grants framework and led the effort to have her institution host the AoPE/VSU 2022 Joint annual conference. A recipient of VSU's 2022 Du Bois-Toppin Graduate Research Initiative Award, she is also a recipient of the PE Academy's 2020 Distinguished Process Educator of the Year Award and its 2019 Best Conference Paper Award.

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  Ingrid Ulbrich is an Educational Consultant focused on Learning to Learn. After teaching Learning to Learn Chemistry courses for beginning and struggling students, Ingrid developed a passion for bringing Learning to Learn experiences to students at the outset of their college careers, and as opportunities for failing students to earn another chance to stay in school. She enjoys the challenge of facilitating these experiences and the reward of helping students become empowered to take ownership of their academic and personal lives. Ingrid's research interests lie in the areas of self-growth for all people, and in creating Learning to Learn programs. Ingrid has adopted many Process Education practices for herself, and is a self-grower. She has also served as the General Chemistry Coordinator at Colorado State University.

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  Biosketch

  Matthew Watts is currently an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Red Rocks Community College near Denver, Colorado. Matt has been active with the Academy of Process of Educators since 2015, serving as Secretary, President, and is the current Treasurer. Matt has also participated in many other conference activities such as the planning of the annual conference, self-growth community, and the PE expert team. Matt promises to serve on a platform of transparency and financial sustainability.

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  Biosketch

  Steve Spicklemire has been practicing elements of Process Education since he attended a Dan Apple "Pacific Crest Software" workshop in the early to mid 1990s (sorry, it's been so long the exact date is uncertain!). Along the way he has experimented with many novel pedagogies, including project based learning (PBL, modeling instruction, flipped classrooms, just-in-time teaching, worked examples, and many others. Two years ago Steve rejoined the PE community by participating in a "refresher" PE institute and conference. Steve is excited to be able to contribute to the PE community once more by taking on the role of member at large for the Academy or Process Educators.

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  Biosketch

  Peter Smith, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Computer Science, Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN. I retired from teaching in 2002, but continued to write modules for the Faculty Guidebook and articles in IJPE on facilitation, quality learning environments, challenging students, and reflection vs. self assessment. I first attended a teaching institute in 1992 and immediately converted all my courses to align them with the Process Education philosophy of education. Things were rocky at first, but after a couple of years I was successful in getting the students to read the material before class and engage in enrichment activities during class.

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  Biosketch

  Colleen Taylor is an associate professor of Inorganic Chemistry in the Chemistry Department at Virginia State University where she has been the coordinator of the general chemistry and associated labs since 2003.She has served in several leaderships roles at the University and in her community including: Faculty Technology trainer, Co-Chair of the Joint Committee of Student Academic Life, Chair Faculty Policies Committee, Interim Chair of the Department, President of the VA State University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, Chair of the Virginia Section of the American Chemical Society, Co-Chair of the Minority Affairs Committee of the VA section ACS and the Chair of the VA Section Student Affiliates Committee. In her role as the coordinator of the general chemistry, she has advocated the use of flipped classroom/active/blended learning models to improve student outcomes. Successful implementation of these practices was featured in a With Good Reason radio podcast in 2013 “The Future of Higher Education” and published in that same year as “A Multi-year Evaluation of the Flipped Format in a General Chemistry Course” in the International Journal of Process Education. She was one of two of the on- campus organizers for the Conference of Process Education conference at VSU in 2015 and the key in the organization of the technology implementation for the most recent 2022 conference. She has served as the Secretary of the Academy board for the past year.

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  Biosketch

  Will Ofstad serves as Chair for the Department of Pharmacy Practice at West Coast University, focused on faculty development and mentorship in active learning. His primary research focus is in teaching and learning including team-based learning, team building, simulation, and interprofessional education. He is an author and editor for the Interprofessional Education Toolkit. He currently serves as President-Elect for the Team-Based Learning Collaborative and Member at Large for the Academy of Process Education. His past experience includes directing the Office of Teaching and Learning, launching a Center for Team-Based Learning, serving as President of the Northern California College of Clinical Pharmacy, and providing direct patient care as a clinical pharmacist.

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  Biosketch

  Education: Ph.D., Texas A&M University, College Station, TX and M.S. Chemistry from Texas Tech University, Lubbock Texas.

  Teaching: Assistant Professor, Hampton University, 1995-2003; and Shaw University, NC, 2003-2009.

  Administration: Developed the Faculty Development Program at Shaw University, served as its Coordinator from 2003-2007, and then, served as Chair of the Department of Natural Science and Mathematics from 2007-2009. Currently, and as of 2009, I am an Associate Professor and Chair (11 years) of the Department of Chemistry at Virginia State University.

  Interests: the pursuit and implementation of pedagogical advances in teaching and learning; and engaging students in scientific research.

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  Christopher Sweeney graduated from St. Lawrence University (BA), and University of Rochester (MA, Ph.D). He is Professor of Graphic and Multimedia Design at SUNY Canton where he teaches courses in media studies, videography, animation, sound design and production. He has participated in Learning to Learn camps and has presented at two previous Academy conferences.

Academy Board Members:

Appointed Members (alphabetically, by position)

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  Biosketch

  Like his father Wade Ellis Sr., Wade Ellis Jr. is an accomplished mathematician with primary interest in teaching and has been a mathematics instructor at West Valley Community College in Saratoga, California for 20 years. Wade served asSecond Vice President of the Mathematical Association of America. He is a past president of the California Mathematics Council, Community College and has served as a member of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board, and the National Research Council Committee on Science Education. He is the coauthor of numerous books on the use of computers in teaching and learning mathematics. Among his many honors are the AMATYC Mathematics Excellence Award, the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal of the United States Army, the Hayward Award for Excellence in Education from the California Academic Senate, and the Distinguished Service Award from the California Mathematics Council, Community College. He is the author and co-author of numerous books on mathematics and computer science and a respected and prolific author on Process Education and learning how to learn.

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  Mary Moore is a Professor of Sociology and Associate Vice President of Accreditation at the University of Indianapolis who holds a PhD in sociology from York University in Canada. Her current areas of administrative experience include assessment of academic and general education programs, program reviews, and institutional accreditation. Her academic expertise includes knowledge of international educational systems beginning with experience as an international student in a Canadian University.

  Mary's research interests are focused on poverty and homelessness, including management of the homeless count for Indianapolis in 1999; service learning in cross-cultural context with international presentations and publications; ethnic studies, including study of the Hispanic community in Indianapolis. As a process educator, her teaching interests include social problems, the family, and sociology of religion.

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  Biosketch

  Denna Hintze is a self-taught web and graphic designer who lucked into a career in pedagogy and Process Education by working as a publishing contractor for Pacific Crest. She holds an MA in the Philosophy of Science and has had the fantastic fortune to have been taught by and exposed to some of the finest minds out there (including one of Noam Chomsky's ex-TAs). She loves math, linguistics, physics, and trying and learning new things. She is slightly crazy about football (the European kind that Americans call "soccer") and science fiction. Nowdays, she lives in Kolbu, Norway, a small town about 120 km north of Oslo.

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  Wendy Duncan received both her Bachelor of Science in pharmacy and PhD in pharmaceutics from the University of Toronto. Prior to her appointment at CHSU, she served as a faculty member at the University of Toronto, as associate dean for education and director of the Office of Teaching, Learning and Assessment at Auburn University's Harrison School of Pharmacy, dean and vice president for academic affairs at St. Louis College of Pharmacy and dean at Drake University. Currently she serves as Provost at California Health Sciences University. Duncan's areas of expertise include in cognitive and moral development, teaching and learning, curriculum development, assessment, and student professionalism. She is a passionate advocate of collaborative, adaptive leadership. Situations that require significant organizational change are her specialty.

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  A past president of the Academy of Process Educators, Kathy Burke holds a PhD in Economics from Stony Brook University and is currently a Professor of Economics and the Economics Department Chair at SUNY Cortland. Her professional interests include salary inequity and gender issues, regional economic development, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. As a process educator, Kathy implements many PE practices in her courses on economic statistics, mathematical economics, economics of the firm, and econometrics.

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  Biosketch

  Steve Spicklemire has been practicing elements of Process Education since he attended a Dan Apple "Pacific Crest Software" workshop in the early to mid 1990s (sorry, it's been so long the exact date is uncertain!). Along the way he has experimented with many novel pedagogies, including project based learning (PBL, modeling instruction, flipped classrooms, just-in-time teaching, worked examples, and many others. Two years ago Steve rejoined the PE community by participating in a "refresher" PE institute and conference. Steve is excited to be able to contribute to the PE community once more by taking on the role of member at large for the Academy or Process Educators.

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  Biosketch

  Betty Hurd is Director of Fashion Marketing Program at Madison Area Technical College and freelance for Snap Fashun as a video content writer. Betty serves as a facult mentor for Assessment in the Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning. She is a certified Faculty Advisor for Madison College with a focus on learner success through effective assessment of teaching and learning methods

  Betty has held management and buying positions for 30 years in the retailing field. Degrees: MSE University of Wisconsin-Platteville; Bachelor Degree Home Economics-Retailing. Certifications: Social Media Marketing University; JDA Space Planning; Author: Process Education Manual Assessment modules.

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  Tris Utschig, a former President of the Academy, is Director for Scholarly Teaching in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) and is Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering at Kennesaw State University. Formerly, he was Assistant Director for CETL and for the Office of Assessment at Georgia Tech, and prior to that was a tenured Associate Professor of Engineering Physics at Lewis-Clark State College. Dr. Utschig provides programming and consults with faculty to help them bring scholarly, evidence-based teaching and learning innovations into their classrooms, and to help them provide meaningful assessment. He has regularly published and presented work on a variety of topics including learning theory, assessment instruments and methodologies, using technology in the classroom, instructional design, team-based learning, and peer coaching. Dr. Utschig completed his PhD in Nuclear Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

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  Biosketch

  Dr. David Leasure, an innovator in higher education, has led online university programs, problem-based learning online, and competency-based education. David has served as provost at Western Governors University, Colorado Technical University and Jones International University. He started his career at AT&T Bell Labs, then became associate professor of computer science at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi. He is co-author of The Professional's Guide to Self-Growth and Martial Arts for Life, a guide to parents to help their child develop life qualities. David believes all students can learn and has made it his personal mission to help 10M learners and 1M faculty in 10 years advance their learning and success skills.

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  Biosketch

  Arlene King-Berry is Professor of Special Education at University of the District of Columbia, where she also serves as Chair of the Faculty Senate and of the Institutional Review Board. She is a dynamic educator, lawyer, writer, Principal Investigator for federal and local grants, with 25+ years of organizational, instructional, business management experience. A seasoned conference presenter, King-Berry has made national and international presentations in venues such as the Oxford Roundtable, Oxford England; the Howard University Scientific Symposium, Bahia, Brazil; and the USDOE Special Education Conference, Washington DC. She is actively engages in scholarly publication: Allyn and Bacon published her Special Education Law Manual and she has published in peer reviewed journals (e.g.,Journal of Negro Education and Black History Bulletin).

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  Biosketch

  Who I am...
  I am a 56-year-old Norwegian, married to Denna Hintze. I have a certification as a Radio/TV- technician, half a Master's Degree in Marketing and Service Management, and 18 years as a technician, the last 6 of which were as owner and manager of my own repair shop. I also have a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing, a Master's Degree in Clinical Nursing, and 15 years as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse. I also work part time as a teacher for Licensed Practical Nurses doing post-graduate studies online. In addition to that, I have my own little business doing welding, carpentry, and graphic design, but also sub-contracted work for Denna.
  
  What I do that's relevant...
  I do web design, graphic design and layout, Moodle editing, technical editing, and animation videos. Among the things I have done are: The Faculty Guidebook website, co-authored an article about Proximity Ethics and Process Education, and animation videos for learning modules for Pacific Crest, as seen in The Hall of Innovation video for the 2022 PE Conference.
  
  Other than that…
  My plan is to transition from nursing to dividing my time between teaching and computer stuff. And maybe open a cat hotel (a luxury boarding kennel). When not working, I like snowboarding, kayaking, bicycling, and reading.