Steven P. Girardot, Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, has more than ten years of higher education experience, and earned both a BS in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Chemistry from Georgia Tech. He completed his doctorate in Chemistry and Environmental Health at Emory University, and a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Epidemiology from the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. Dr. Girardot has extensive background in student transition, retention, and success. Steven’s experience includes serving as the founding director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Academic Success and co-chairing Georgia Tech’s Complete College Georgia Steering Committee. He also served as the Director of the Office of Success Programs (which included new student orientation, first-year seminars, sophomore programs, tutoring, and academic support programs); Assistant Director for TA and Graduate Student Programs at Tech’s Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL); and Program Coordinator at Tech’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC), where he managed tutoring programs that linked Tech students to local elementary schools. In addition to his administrative positions, he teaches Freshman Seminar (GT1000) and Freshman Chemistry.
Prior to his current role, Dr. Klingbeil served as Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science from 2013-2018. He is the lead investigator for Wright State’s National Model for Engineering Mathematics education, which has been supported by over $5.0M in grants from the National Science Foundation. He held the university title of Robert J. Kegerreis Distinguished Professor of Teaching from 2005-2008, and served as the college’s Director of Student Retention and Success from 2007-2009. Prior to his appointment as Dean, he served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, where he established the CECS Student Success Center to support large-scale changes in the college’s recruitment and retention initiatives. He has received numerous awards for his work in engineering and STEM education, and was named the 2005 Ohio Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
Amy has close to twenty years of experience in Virginia’s public schools as an educator and school administrator. Her experience in public education carried her into the corporate arena implementing regional educational programs for a variety of audiences. She has had the opportunity to foster relationships and forge partnerships with K-12 and higher education institutions, providing her with the foundation to establish her career at Micron Technology, Inc. In her role as university and academic relations manager at Micron, Amy was responsible for guiding initiatives involving programmatic support for STEM education at the K-12 and community college level and initiating opportunities for research in the university arena. While at Micron, she was given the opportunity to launch NOVA’s STEM outreach program, SySTEMic Solutions, an initiative connecting K-12, higher education, and industry to establish a robust infrastructure that is strengthening the technical workforce pipeline through the development and cultivation of strategic STEM partnerships.
Sharon L. Vasquez is in her fourth year as provost of the University of Hartford, a private university of 7000 students. Since her arrival she has successfully lead several major planning initiatives including the university’s NEASC reaccreditation review, a full-time faculty compensation study, the Academic Pathways Strategic Plan, the Libraries Master Planning effort and a comprehensive review and prioritization of academic programs—Foundation of the Future. Over a decade of serving as dean at two public universities: in the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State University in Detroit, and earlier in the School of Arts and Performance at SUNY-Brockport, helped her hone her leadership skills and navigate the ever changing landscape of higher education. She counts among her proudest accomplishments exceeding capital campaign goals at two institutions; launching an incubator for creative-sector businesses at Wayne State’s high-tech research park; leading the American Democracy Project and a “first year experience” initiative at SUNY-Brockport; championing assessment of learning outcomes before it was popular; and nurturing the interest in academic leadership opportunities of numerous women colleagues.
Kathleen A. Rinehart serves as the 9th President of Cardinal Stritch University. Prior to her appointment, she served as the General Counsel and Secretary of the Corporation for Saint Xavier University and in an Of Counsel role at Franczek Radelet. Kathleen also serves as a consultant, facilitator and conflict coach for colleges and universities across the country, assisting them with the implementation of supervisory best practices and communication tools to effectively manage departmental and other campus conflict. Kathleen is a featured speaker on higher education and dispute resolution issues at numerous local, regional and national conferences. She served on the board of directors for the National Association of Colleges and Universities (NACUA). Prior to her legal career, Kathleen was an educator and master teacher at New Trier High School in Winnetka, IL, and served as the law clerk to Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice (Ret.) Janine P. Geske. Kathleen received her bachelor’s degree, Juris Doctor and Master in Dispute Resolution from Marquette University, and a Master of Arts in Teaching (History) from The University of Chicago.
Since January 2017, Anne leads a new Central Corporate Relations Office to develop holistic relationships with companies to support UC San Diego’s strategic plan and fundraising objectives. Anne works with the UC San Diego Chancellor and Deans on strategic corporate initiatives from both advancement and sponsored research. Anne served over 17 years at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering building corporate engagement programs, first as the Director of the Corporate Affiliates Program (CAP) with 75+ high technology and life science member companies for custom access to faculty, research, students. Anne continued to build new corporate engagement models as the Executive Director, Corporate Research Partnerships where she built the first seven of the Dean’s Agile Centers of Excellence–multidisciplinary faculty teams focused on technologies that are highly relevant to industry. Under Anne, CAP ran the Team Internship Program and started Executive Education Engineering degree programs. An alumna of Mount Holyoke College, Anne went on to Harvard University earning a Master’s in Public Policy and a Master’s in Theology. Anne is an ICF-certified professional leadership coach.
As Director of Industry Relations at Michigan Tech, Brent Burns serves as the primary point of contact for any general or strategic industry inquiries and is responsible for leading the connection of the interests from companies with appropriate campus initiatives/constituents. Prior to Michigan Tech, he served as a Systems Engineer for General Dynamics Land Systems and has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Tech, Masters of Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is currently pursuing his PhD in Environmental and Energy Policy from Michigan Tech.
Dr. Benton is involved in administration, leadership, campus consultation, and advocacy. She has written and presented extensively on college student mental health and changes in the prevalence of mental health problems among college students over the past two decades. She has also written and presented on substance abuse on college campuses, counseling center treatment effectiveness, and professional training in psychology.
Aaron Thomas has been working in K-12 and higher education virtual environments as an instructor and instructional designer since 2004. He especially enjoys the challenge of transforming face-to-face classes into fully online courses that facilitate exploration and high quality discussion.
Marvin Smith has over twenty-five years of professional financial aid administration experience at a variety of institution types. Marvin also has extensive experience at Purdue University-West Lafayette, Indiana’s traditional land-grant flagship campus, as well as Ivy Tech Community College-Lafayette, part of Indiana’s community college system. Marvin is a frequent presenter regarding financial aid customer service and communications at national and regional conferences, including the College Board’s national forum and the ACT Midwest Conference. He also presents at national, midwest, and state financial aid association conferences (NASFAA, MASFAA, ISFAA). Marvin has authored financial aid articles for the Chronicle of Higher Education, NASFAA, and the NASFAA Journal of Student Financial Aid. He is the recipient of numerous professional awards including the ISFAA Distinguished Service Award, MASFAA Leadership Award, and NASFAA Regional Leadership Award.
