About Us

Academy Board Members:

Executive Members

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  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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  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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  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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  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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  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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  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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  George Dombi received a B.A. in Biology from Slippery Rock College, an M. Ed with a concentration in Montessori Methods and was certified as an elementary school teacher at Xavier University in Ohio. He earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Cincinnati and went on to become certified as a high school science teacher. Finally, he earned a master's in Public Health, M.P.H. in 2010, from Wayne State University Medical College in Detroit. George has worked at Calgon lab in the Process Waters division and at General Motors Corporation in the Crash Injury group. He also worked as the laboratory director for 5 years at the Neonatal division of Children's Hospital, in Detroit and for 7 years at the Plastic Surgery group of Receiving Hospital, also in Detroit. Further, he worked for 2 years in the Texas Department of Health, in Austin and for 7 years at the Karmanos Cancer Center in Detroit. George has taught courses in Biochemistry, General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry, additionally tutoring science students and substituting in local Rhode Island Public School districts. 2010 was his first year in the Chemistry Department at URI. He enjoys teaching undergraduate chemistry classes and hopes to eventually offer lectures on the History of Chemistry.

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  Grace Onodipe is an Associate Professor of Economics at Georgia Gwinnett College, has been a member of the AoPE since 2018. At the 2023 PE conference, Grace received the Newest Star Award for her impactful contributions to the Academy. She has been involved in various Process Education professional development events and programs like the PE Expert Team, the Teaching Institute, the Teaching Learning to Learn Institute, Performance Measures Institute, and is a two time participant in the Self-Growth Institutes in Myrtle Beach, SC. Grace is a regular presenter at the annual PE Conference, and regular attendee to the Self-Growth Community, highlighting her dedication to Process Education. One of her key goals for the Academy is to make sure everyone feels welcome by keeping things simple and easy to understand, without using too many confusing acronyms and technical terms that might confuse new members.

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  Yuqin Hu received her B.S. in Biology and her M.S. in Zoology from China, and her PharmD from California Health Sciences University (CHSU). In addition, she did doctorate research in Molecular Biology at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Prior to joining WCU, Dr. Hu served as an Academic Fellow, as well as an Assistant Professor, at CHSU. During her initial career she taught genomics and biology teaching methods at Xinjiang Normal University in China. Later she conducted molecular biology research via DNA mapping and genome sequencing at the University of California, Davis. She has taught many PharmD courses including Patient Care series, Pharmaceuticals, and Natural Medicine. She has also precepted APPE rotations. She is involved with Process Education (PE), American Pharmacists Association, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, and Team-Based Learning Collaborative. Dr. Hu is passionate about teaching with focuses on creating a safe learning environment, instilling critical thinking, and mentoring students to become well-rounded pharmacists. Her practice interests include hospital clinical settings and innovative pharmacy services. Vision for the Academy includes:

  • Recognize the synergy between the different educational methodologies and provide useful practical reference for PE practitioners seeking to implement and elevate learning through an integrated approach.
  • Positively transform individuals and institutions involved in the educational process for movement and improvement from traditional practices to future directions, including the use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence.
  • Share PE successes with the broader educational community, enhancing PE adaptation.

Academy Board Members:

Appointed Members (alphabetically, by position)

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  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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  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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  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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  Abigail Richard holds a doctoral degree in mathematics from the University of Cincinnati, where she received multiple teaching awards as a graduate student. She has worked on research projects funded by organizations such as the National Science Foundation, the Taft Research Center, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Her work has resulted in multiple publications in internationally recognized peer-reviewed journals in both mathematics and business. She greatly enjoys teaching and doing research relevant to data science. She especially enjoys interdisciplinary work, and she is always excited to collaborate. Her interests include patent data analysis, mathematical programming, modelling, optimization, and simulation.

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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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  Content coming soon!

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  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.