JULY 2021

Dr. Lorelle Espinosa serves as program director at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, where she is responsible for developing and implementing evidence-based strategic priorities for the Foundation’s grantmaking to effectively advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in STEM higher education. Her portfolio includes the Foundation’s signature DEI programs—the University Centers of Exemplary Mentoring and the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership—which seek to transform STEM graduate education by supporting universities in strengthening pathways to and through master’s and doctoral study for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous populations. With more than 20 years of experience in higher education research, policy, and practice, Espinosa is a national voice on issues pertaining to college access and success for diverse populations and on the role of equity-minded leadership in postsecondary settings. A Pell Grant recipient and first-generation college graduate, Espinosa earned her Ph.D. in higher education and organizational change from the University of California, Los Angeles; her B.A. from the University of California, Davis; and her A.A. from Santa Barbara City College.

JULY 2020

Dr. Gina Ann Garcia is a leading scholar on Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), which are colleges and universities that enroll at least 25% Latinx undergraduate students. She is also an associate professor in the Department of Administrative and Policy Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, specializing in Higher Education and Student Affairs. She is a scholar activist committed to disrupting the status quo of postsecondary education by bringing attention to the ways higher education has historically been committed to whiteness and regularly reinforces white narratives and white standards. Connecting critical and organizational theory, Dr. Garcia’s research centers Latinxs and HSIs, and is guided by the principles of equity and justice.

JULY 2019

Laurie A. Schreiner is the Chair of the Department of Higher Education at Azusa Pacific University for the last 16 years. Her concern and knowledge about the increased demands on higher education professionals to do more with less and to better serve students whom higher education has not historically served well, the doctoral preparation of higher education scholars and practitioners must not only keep pace, but lead the way. In this presentation, she will outline her vision for what doctoral higher education might look like in the future to better prepare the next generation of scholars and leaders to thrive in their work.

JULY 2018

Julie J. Park is an associate professor of education at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research addresses how race, religion, and social class affect diversity and equity in higher education, including the diverse experiences of Asian American college students. She is the author of two books, When Diversity Drops: Race, Religion, and Affirmative Action in Higher Education (Rutgers University Press, 2013), an examination of how universities are affected by bans on affirmative action, and Race on Campus: Debunking Myths with Data (Harvard Education Press, forthcoming). Her work has also appeared in venues such as the Washington Post, Huffington Post, and Chronicle of Higher Education.

Currently an associate editor for the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, she is a research advisory board member for the National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education and the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey. Dr. Park earned her Ph.D. in Education from UCLA (Higher Education and Organizational Change), with a graduate concentration in Asian American Studies, and B.A. at Vanderbilt University (Sociology, English, and Women's Studies). She lives in the greater Washington DC region with her husband and son.

July 2017

Alexander W. Astin is the Allan M. Cartter Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Higher Education and Organizational Change, at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is founding director of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. He has served as Director of Research for both the American Council on Education and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.He is also the founding director of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, an ongoing national study of some fifteen million students, 300,000 faculty and staff, and 1,800 higher education institutions. Astin has been director of research for both the American Council on Education (1965–1973) and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (1960–1965). He has authored 23 books and more than 300 other publications in the field of higher education, and has been a recipient of awards for outstanding research from more than a dozen national associations and professional societies. He has also been elected to membership in the National Academy of Education (NAEd), a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, and a recipient of eleven honorary degrees. A 1990 study in the Journal of Higher Education identified Astin as the most frequently-cited author in the field of higher education. A 2010 study in the same journal also identified him as the author most cited by others in the field of higher education. In 1985 readers of Change magazine selected Astin as the person "most admired for creative, insightful thinking" in the field of higher education. His latest book is Are You Smart Enough? How Colleges' Obsession with Smartness Shortchanges Students (Stylus, 2016).

July 2016

Shaun R. Harper is a professor in the Graduate School of Education, Africana Studies, and Gender Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where he founded and serves as executive director of the Center for the Study of Race & Equity in Education. He studies topics pertaining to race and gender in education and social contexts, equity trends and climate issues on college campuses, Black and Latino male student success in high school and higher education, college student engagement, and intercollegiate athletics.

July 2015

Daryl G. Smith, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Fellow and Professor Emerita of Education and Psychology at The Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Smith previously served as a college administrator in planning and evaluation, institutional research, and student affairs. Her research, teaching, and publications have been in the areas of organizational implications of diversity, assessment and evaluation, leadership and change, governance, diversity in STEM fields, and faculty diversity. In addition to numerous articles and papers, she is an author or co-author of Diversity’s Promise for Higher Education: Making It Work, The Challenge of Diversity: Alienation or Involvement in the Academy, and more.

July 2014

Susan R. Komives, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita at the University of Maryland, is past president of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) and the American College Personnel Association (ACPA), was a vice president of two institutions, and is the author/editor of a dozen books including Student Services, Exploring Leadership, Leadership for a Better World, and The Handbook for Student Leadership Development. Dr. Komives is a consulting editor for student leadership with Jossey-Bass and is the executive editor of the New Directions in Student Leadership series. She is former co-PI of the Multi-institutional Study of Leadership (MSL) and a former board member of the International Leadership Association. Dr. Komives is a recipient of both the ACPA and NASPA outstanding research awards and the ACPA Lifetime Achievement Award.

July 2013

Alyssa Bryant Rockenbach, Ph.D., is an associate professor of higher education at North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on the impact of college on students, with particular attention to spiritual development, religious and worldview diversity in colleges and universities, campus climate, community service engagement, and gendered dimensions of the college student experience. Her scholarship has been featured in a number of higher education and interdisciplinary journals, including Research in Higher Education, the Journal of Higher Education, Journal of College Student Development, Gender and Education, and Religion and Education. She has been honored with national awards, including the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Emerging Scholar Award, the Annuit Coeptis Emerging Professional Award, and the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Religion & Education SIG Emerging Scholar Award.

July 2012

Darnell Cole, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Education at the University of Southern California, with an emphasis in higher education and education psychology. His areas of research include race/ ethnicity, diversity, college student experiences, and learning. He has published over 30 articles and book chapters and is featured in the major journals for higher education and other related fields including The Journal of Higher Education, Journal of College Student Development, NASPA Journal, Journal of Classroom Behavior, and Journal of Creative Behavior.

July 2011

Mitchell J. Chang, Ph.D. is Professor of Higher Education and Organizational Change at the University of California, Los Angeles and also holds a joint appointment in the Asian American Studies Department. Dr. Chang's research focuses on the educational efficacy of diversity-related initiatives on college campuses and how to apply those best practices toward advancing student learning and democratizing institutions.

July 2010

William G. Tierney is the Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of Higher Education and Director of the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis at the University of Southern California. Professor Tierney is the former President of the USC Academic Senate; he chaired the Ph.D. program for the USC Rossier School of Education, and chaired the University Committee on Academic Review. Having spent over two decades conducting research on college access for underrepresented youth, Dr. Tierney is committed to informing policies and practices related to educational equity. He is currently involved in a project to develop, evaluate, and disseminate a highly interactive, entertaining, web-enhanced computer game for low-income youth that will boost high school students’ college aspirations, and equip players with knowledge about preparing for and succeeding in college. He is also involved in projects pertaining to the problems of remediation to ensure that high school students are college-ready, and a project investigating how to improve strategic decision-making in higher education.

July 2009

John Tagg is Professor of English at Palomar College in San Marcos, California. He is coauthor, with Robert B. Barr, of “From Teaching to Learning: A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education” (Change, 1995), which quickly became the most cited piece in Change's history due to the article's lucid evaluation of teaching and learning in higher education and its paradigmatic yet specific recommendations for helping the academy become more successful in creating student learning. For the past several years he has conducted workshops and made presentations at many colleges and universities on organizational transformation and the Learning Paradigm. He is also the author of The Learning Paradigm College (Anker, 2003).

July 2008

Kent D. Talbert served on the U.S. Department of Education's General Counsel. He was nominated by President Bush on September 27, 2005, and confirmed by the United States Senate on May 19, 2006. As General Counsel, Mr. Talbert was the principal adviser to the Secretary on all legal matters affecting Departmental programs and activities.Prior to his confirmation, he served as the Department's Deputy General Counsel for the Division of Business and Administrative Law and the Division of Legislative Counsel. Before coming to the Department, Mr. Talbert served as Education Policy Counsel for the Committee on Education and the Workforce in the United States House of Representatives, as well as on the staff of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the United States Senate, and the staff of the late U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC). Mr. Talbert was born in Greenwood, South Carolina. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Erskine College (1982) and a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law (1985), where he served on the International Moot Court team. He also practiced law in Columbia, South Carolina.