Dr. Naomi W. Nishi is a scholar-practitioner with over 15 years in higher education. Her research focuses on issues of racial equity and social justice in adult education. She has produced over 20 publications and presented over 30 papers at national conferences. Naomi serves as a consultant and adult educator/facilitator, focusing on racial justice in higher education as well as to a variety of companies and nonprofits in the Denver area. Naomi holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Colorado Denver and an MA in Intercultural Communication from the University of Denver. She currently serves as the Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University. Prior to this, Naomi worked in research development and as a Lecturer at the University of Colorado Denver and the Anschutz Medical Campus, also serving as a DEI faculty leader at the CU System level. Naomi is a Motherscholar who, along with her partner, has two rambunctious kids who are six and nine.
While serving as a professor of Sociology, Melinda also serves as a distinguished faculty fellow in the Office of Inclusive Excellence. She has 25 years of higher ed experience in classroom and academic leadership roles, and over a decade furthering DEI work through learning and development initiatives. She is the recipient of numerous teaching awards, including the Schnabel Teaching Award from the North Central Sociological Association and the Hans O. Mauksch Award from the American Sociological Association Section on Teaching and Learning. She has served as President of the North Central Sociological Association, Vice President of Alpha Kappa Delta, the International Sociological Honor Society, and was Chair of the Section for Teaching and Learning for the American Sociological Association. She is passionate about removing barriers to inclusion and works to empower all voices so our community can thrive.
After nearly 20 years as a clinical psychology professor, Michael began his current journey in the professional development world by becoming the inaugural Director of Faculty Development at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville. There he works with individuals and groups to facilitate professional and personal growth. Of special interest are resilience, burnout prevention and remediation, team functioning, leadership development, and conscious professionalism. Dr. Wiederman has published more than 250 articles and book chapters on a wide range of topics, including gender, sexuality, personality, body image, and disordered eating. He authored Understanding Sexuality Research, co-authored The Complete Guide to Graduate School Admission: Psychology, Counseling, and Related Fields (2nd ed.), and co-edited the Handbook for Conducting Research on Human Sexuality. His most recent books are Study Less, Learn More: The Complete Guide for Busy Students and Transcending the Personality Disordered Parent: Psychological and Spiritual Tactics, co-authored with Randy Sansone, MD.
Maureen Breeze has been a featured speaker on the topics of student success; leadership; coaching strategies for professionals, entrepreneurs, and students; and critical and creative thinking. In addition to speaking, she trains and certifies college faculty, administrators, staff, and managers in academic coaching skills, and has facilitated trainings at conferences, universities, and other institutions across the United States. She has conducted webinars for many associations including the Gulf Business Training Network, Colorado Department of Education, and the National Repository of On-Line Content. Ms. Breeze co-authored Critical and Creative Thinking for Teenagers and Leadership for Teenagers: From Ancient Times to the 21st Century, developed print and digital curricula for a series of student success books, and created a national mentoring program for Goodwill Industries.
Maria oversees campus-wide strategic planning, financial planning and analysis, institutional research, and capital asset strategies. She is responsible for managing a budget of $800 million. Ms. Anguiano has also served as a senior advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Postsecondary Success Team. Prior to this work, Ms. Anguiano worked at Barclays Capital in public finance investment banking, and at Deloitte & Touche in corporate and nonprofit auditing and financial statement analysis. She currently serves on the board of The James Irvine Foundation and the Impact Board. Ms. Anguiano holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA in Economics-Accounting and Spanish from Claremont McKenna College.
Ben blends his extensive Internet startup experience seamlessly into finding entrepreneurial approaches to increasing private foundation and corporate support in Higher Education. He has over a decade of experience in corporate and foundation relations, coupled with over fifteen years experience in Internet business development and production management. Over his career, he has raised over $30 million dollars, helped get several startups off the ground or achieve next level success, and managed hundreds of Internet development projects. His most recent work includes jumpstarting a CFR program for UMass Dartmouth that has resulted in a nearly ten-fold increase in faculty actively seeking private funding and the establishment of a holistic business engagement approach (inspired by an Academic Impressions workshop he attended) involving stakeholders from throughout the university.
During his 15 years at UNBC, Dr Payne has held a number of administrative positions including Assistant Dean for Education and Research with the Northern Medical Program. Dr. Payne maintains his research program in area of vascular physiology where he is a Full Professor in both the Northern Medical Program and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Programs. He came to UNBC in June 2004 as founding faculty of the medical school following a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology and John B. Pierce Laboratory. Dr. Payne holds a Ph.D. from Memorial University of Newfoundland in the field of cardiovascular and renal physiology. In addition to his biomedical research, he has also an interest in medical education in the areas of curriculum, assessment, and admissions.
