Conference Mavens* (Firerook)
Diana Kardia, Ph.D.
Diana Kardia is an expert in organizational change and leadership development in academia, the host of the Leadership for Broadening Participation podcast (with Kelly Mack), and the founder of Kardia Group, a coaching and consulting agency devoted to articulating and solving the most vexing and important challenges facing faculty, staff, and administrators today. She received her Ph.D. in 1996 at the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education the University of Michigan and holds an M.A. in Statistics and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies. Diana has coached hundreds of faculty and academic administrators across a wide range of disciplines and has led, designed, and guided a wide array of complex change projects in academia and academic medicine, including programs funded by the National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Inclusive Excellence program. She is frequently consulted on faculty careers, organizational change, the dynamics of academic departments and the benefits and challenges of diversity.
Karen Williams
Karen Williams joined Kardia Group as co-owner and partner in 2010, bringing leadership, OD, coaching, and entrepreneurial experience and expertise. Since then Karen has coached faculty, faculty administrators, and staff and consults on organizational change projects such as departmental team building, unit climate assessment and culture change, faculty/staff relations, and the development of diversity change leaders. Karen’s particular foci include strategic leadership development, healthy organizational change, organizations as systems, and cultivating the benefits of a diverse and inclusive academic environment. Karen has been involved in higher ed for almost her entire adult life, as a student, an employee, and/or a consultant. She holds an A.B. in Mathematics and a Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence from Washington University. She is currently pursuing her interest in the confluence of individual growth and organizational change through the Ph.D. program in Human and Organizational Systems at Fielding Graduate University.
* “an expert or connoisseur” – when it comes to higher ed, we’re both!
Conference Consultants (Firerook)
Catherine Lilly, M.S.
Catherine Lilly has worked as an internal and external consultant to multiple executive vice presidents, deans, provosts and other senior academic and administrative leaders, contributing in a breadth of roles including executive team member, lead consultant, strategic advisor and executive coach. Catherine joined the Sibson Consulting Higher Education practice team in 2017, having served the University of Michigan as the Senior Adviser to the Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer and the lead Facilitator for the President’s institution-wide Diversity Equity and Inclusion Strategic Planning Process. She is a past president of NCCI, higher education’s Network for Change Leadership and brings a broad national perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing higher education as a sector.
Carrie Spell-Hansson, M.S.
Carrie Spell-Hansson has worked in higher education, non-profit organizations and corporations in such areas as affirmative action, social equity, organizational development and culture change. She has held positions as Director of Social Equity at East Stroudsburg University, Dean of Intercultural Development at Lafayette College and Vice President of Organizational Development and Culture Change at Planned Parenthood Federation of America prior to becoming a full-time external consultant and facilitator. She is currently part of The Folke Institute Team. As a consultant and facilitator, Carrie has worked with many successful organizations within the U.S., the Caribbean, and Canada, including, TimeLife, PepsiCo, USG, Prudential and the American Counseling Association.
Diana Wong, Ph.D.
Diana Wong‘s expertise is in strategy and developing learning programs for improving organizational performance. With an extensive international background, Diana focuses on supporting leaders and management teams with strategic planning and meeting facilitation, organization development, leadership development, executive coaching, training and development, cross-cultural competency development and organizational learning systems. In addition to academia, her 25 plus years of consulting encompass industries related to health care, automotive, management consulting, manufacturing, non-profit organizations, and faith-based organizations. She earned a PhD in organizational strategy from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and an MBA in Finance and International Business from Dalhouse University, Halifax.
Content Expert Facilitators
Plácida Gallegos, Ph.D.
Plácida Gallegos has spent her career as an organization development consultant and coach in academia, the nonprofit sector and private industry. She has served on the faculty of many universities most recently at Fielding Graduate University in the School of Human and Organization Development. She is also the founder of Solfire Consulting Group which specializes in strategic culture change work, supporting organizations in recognizing and more fully utilizing their diverse talent and untapped potential through the practice of inclusive leadership. Over the past two years she was the internal change agent at her university, initiating and leading the Building Inclusion Collaborative effort which actively engaged a wide range of key stakeholders including students, alumni, faculty, staff and administrators. She has published widely on various topics including “Dancing with Resistance” and “The Practice of Inclusive Leadership”.
George Justice, Ph.D.
George Justice is professor of English at Arizona State University. From 2013 to 2017, he served as dean of humanities in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and associate vice president for humanities and arts in the Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development. Justice taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Marquette University, Louisiana State University, and the University of Missouri, where he also served as vice provost for advanced studies and dean of the Graduate School. His book, How to be a Dean, will be published in March 2019 from the Johns Hopkins University Press. With Carolyn Dever, he is in the process of launching Dever Justice, a leadership development agency for and by faculty.
Adrianna Kezar, Ph.D.
Adrianna Kezar is a Professor for Higher Education, University of Southern California and co-director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education. Dr. Kezar is a national expert of change, governance and leadership in higher education and her research agenda explores the change process in higher education institutions and the role of leadership in creating change. She is an international expert on the changing faculty and she directs the Delphi Project on the Changing faculty and Student Success. Her work also includes work in diversity, equity and inclusion (e.g., Speaking Truth and Acting with Integrity). She also regularly consults for campuses and national organizations related to her work on non-tenure track faculty, STEM reform, change, collaboration, leadership development, and change.
Featured Participants
Devika Dibya Choudhuri, Ph.D.
Devika Dibya Choudhuri is a full professor in the graduate Counseling Program at Eastern Michigan University as well as serving as a trainer, coach, consultant, and frequent presenter on cultural competence, diversity and ethical issues. Dibya participated in the first Because Higher Ed is Different gathering in Michigan in 2018 and is a member of one of Firerook’s Faculty Discussion Groups.
Kathryn Johnston, Ph.D.
Kathryn V. Johnston is a Professor and former chair of Columbia University’s Department of Astronomy and also has established effective ways to share research computing infrastructure at Columbia (hardware, power, space and staff). Kathryn participated in the first Because Higher Ed is Different gathering in Michigan in 2018 and is a member of one of Firerook’s Faculty Discussion Groups.
Jennifer Swann, Ph.D.
Jennifer Swann is a full professor of behavioral neuroscience, Director of Student Success, Chair of the Committee for Assessment and member of the faculty senate in the College of Arts and Sciences at Lehigh University. She served as a founding faculty chair of the Council for Equity and Community and the Faculty and Staff of color. Jennifer participated in the first Because Higher Ed is Different gathering in Michigan in 2018 and helped Firerook think through the 2019 virtual conference.
Roberta Trites, Ph.D.
Roberta Trites is a full professor of English at Illinois State University where she has served as chair, associate dean, and acting dean. Roberta participated in the first Because Higher Ed is Different gathering in Michigan in 2018 and is a member of one of Firerook’s Faculty Discussion Groups.
Participant Interviews
Mark Chesler, Ph.D.
Mark Chesler is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Michigan and Executive Director of Community Resources Ltd. in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mark is an activist scholar and focuses on the challenge of racism/sexism and implementing multiculturalism in higher education. Mark was an editor on the book Faculty Identities and Challenge of Diversity: Reflections on Teaching in Higher Education with Alfred Young Jr, examining the undergraduate teaching experiences and collegial relationships of university faculty who hold appointments in social science, humanities, or natural science and engineering.
Carolyn Dever, Ph.D.
Carolyn Dever is a scholar of British literature and culture of the nineteenth century, as well as gender studies, and served as Dartmouth’s Provost and chief academic and budget officer from 2014-2017. At Vanderbilt University she served as Acting Director of women’s studies, Associate Dean for graduate education, and Executive Dean and and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. With George Justice, she is in the process of launching Dever Justice, a leadership development agency for and by faculty.
George Justice, Ph.D.
See above for George’s full bio.
Kelly Mack, Ph.D.
Kelly Mack is the Vice President for Undergraduate STEM Education, and Executive Director of Project Kaleidoscope at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Prior to joining AAC&U, Dr. Mack was the Senior Program Director for the National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE Program while on loan from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) where, as a Professor of Biology, she taught courses in Physiology and Endocrinology for 17 years. Dr. Mack has served as a member of the Board of Governors for the National Council on Undergraduate Research and is a current member of the National Institutes of Health Review Subcommittee for Training, Workforce Development and Diversity. She also recently completed a brief stint as Executive Secretary for the NSF Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering, which is the Congressionally mandated advisory body that focuses on efforts to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in the STEM disciplines.
Rena Seltzer, M.S.
Rena Seltzer is the founder of Leader Academic, the author of The Coach’s Guide for Women Professors: Who Want a Successful Career and a Well-Balanced Life, and a popular speaker at universities including Yale, the University of Michigan, The University of Virginia, and Cornell University. With an undergraduate degree in social science and women’s studies and a Master of Social Work degree, Rena has long been interested in the interaction between people and their environment. Rena follows issues of gender, race, class, disability, and sexual and gender identity, and brings that interest and awareness into her work. Rena participated in some of the earliest conversations about the need for a network of coaches and consultants in higher ed and continues to inform the breadth and scope of this endeavor.
Carrie Spell-Hansson, M.S.
See above for Carrie’s full bio.
Also, with Special Thanks to…
Barbara Butterfield
Barbara Butterfield developed a profound understanding of higher ed in her role as the chief human resource executive for Penn, Stanford, Michigan and other research intensives, through her contributions to ADVANCE and COACHE, and as a higher ed consultant at Sibson. Barbara helped form and inform the chrysalis that birthed Firerook and continues to advise its development.
Maury Cotter
Maury Cotter launched and directed an internal consulting office at UW-Madison, providing expertise in planning and improvement services to the campus and creating the capacity for UW-Madison to develop and implement progressive change at the campus level and throughout the institution. Maury participated in the first Because Higher Ed is Different gathering in Michigan in 2018 and helped Firerook think through the 2019 virtual conference.
Donna Porter, M.S.
As Director of Innovation Academy, Stayer Center for Executive Education at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, Donna Porter works with corporate and nonprofit sectors as a consultant and coach as an Associate Certified Coach through ICF. Donna participated in the first Because Higher Ed is Different gathering in Michigan in 2018 and helped Firerook think through the 2019 virtual conference.
Duane Roen, Ph.D.
Duane Roen is vice provost of ASU at the Polytechnic campus, dean of the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, dean of University College, coordinator of the Project for Writing and Recording Family History, and a professor of English. Duane informed our early design considerations for this conference and supported our thinking about how best to make this effort applicable to faculty.
Patricia Romney, Ph.D.
Patricia Romney is the founder of Romney Associates where she supports large scale diversity initiatives, leadership development and team building in academia. Before starting Romney Associates, she achieved tenure as a professor of Psychology at Hampshire College. Pat participated in the first Because Higher Ed is Different gathering in Michigan in 2018 and leads one of Firerook’s Peer Consulting Groups.
Jeanne VanBriesen, Ph.D.
Jeanne VanBriesen is the Duquesne Light Company Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University where she is also the chair of the Faculty Senate. Jeanne participated in the first Because Higher Ed is Different gathering in Michigan in 2018 as well as many earlier conversations over the past decade.