Archives: Instructors

John joined Academic Impressions in December 2022 as an Institutional Partnerships Associate following 6 years at DeSales University (Go Bulldogs!) in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. In his role, John engages with institutions on collaborative practices and integrates data and communication across the Institutional Partnerships and Academic Impressions teams. John’s roles in higher education included working within undergraduate enrollment management and financial aid, institutional advancement and alumni relations, and academic affairs within the division of healthcare. He received his M.Ed in Academic Standards and Reform, focused in Higher Education, and his B.S. in Biology with a focus in behavioral neuroscience and psychology. Outside of work, he loves everything sports, reading books and listening to podcasts, and spending time with his family and friends.

Breanne joined Academic Impressions in January 2023 as an Account Manager following almost 10 years of service at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Breanne’s roles in higher education included working in the President’s Office, with the University’s strategic plan and the Chief Strategy Officer, and in employee learning and development within Human Resources. She received her B.A. in Organization, Leadership, and Supervision from Purdue University (Go Boilers!) and her M.A. in Executive Development for Public Service with a focus on adult learning and higher education from Ball State University. Breanne resides in Pendleton, Indiana with her husband and son. When she is not working, she is either traveling or planning her next trip with family, cooking, reading, exercising, and chasing summertime.

Lisa Flesher is the Chief of Realm 4, Project Acceleration at Arizona State University where she helps guide unique, technology-enhanced projects to advance initiatives in Realm 4 – Education Through Exploration. An example of this work includes Dreamscape Learn which empowers learners through fully immersive and interactive VR learning experiences. Her background includes developing technical tools and solutions focused on student support and success, including Starbucks, Global Freshman Academy, me3, and our partnership with the Al Ghurair Foundation for Education. Flesher earned her undergraduate degree in education and taught seventh grade math before pursuing a master’s in higher and postsecondary education.

Meena is passionate about the transformative power of education and the role that philanthropy can play in changing lives. At the Case School of Engineering, Meena is responsible for initiating, cultivating, and developing the development program, supporting the associate dean of development with the implementation of the major components of a comprehensive campaign in support of the school (including strategic planning, staff oversight, and volunteer management and solicitation strategies), and serving as a senior strategist for the Case School of Engineering development team. With over 16 years of experience in academic fundraising, Meena started her career at her alma mater, The College of Wooster, where she developed and implemented the parent giving program. She has also served as Director of Alumni Relations at Oberlin College, where she managed a team of five, oversaw the alumni advisory board, was a key campus leader and planner of Commencement/Reunion Weekend (a multi-day celebration of reunions and commencement, which included over 240 events over a 4-day period) and traveled internationally to represent Oberlin in conjunction with the alumni travel program. Her favorite assignments included escorting educational alumni tours to Russia, Cuba, Greece, and Scotland. Prior to joining the Case School of Engineering, Meena served […]

Derek Jones joined the Center for Innovation and Change as Faculty Director in June 2021. He is Associate Professor of Cognitive Science and has directed the Cognitive Science program at UE since 2013. Dr. Jones has held many faculty leadership positions during his time at UE, including Director of the First Year Seminar, Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate and Co-Chair of the UE Mission and Core Values Workgroup. He received the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Teaching Award in 2019. In June of 2023, Dr. Jones will begin his role as Director of Field Innovation, where in addition to overseeing UE’s “ChangeLab” experiential education programming, he will develop social innovation programs for rural high schools in southeastern Indiana and Kentucky. Dr. Jones graduated from the University of Evansville with a BA and a BFA in 2003. He served as an officer in the Army after graduating, and then went on to earn an MA from the University of Houston in 2007 and a PhD in Philosophy from Indiana University in 2013. His current research interests include the psychology of creativity, expertise, technology, and embodied cognition, and he has published a book and several articles on related topics. A […]

Acting Associate Vice President, University of Texas at Dallas Dr. Serenity Rose King is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UT System, a role she started part-time in January 2025. Through August 2025, Serenity also remains the Acting Associate Vice President for Institutional Success and Decision Support at UT Dallas, where she has worked for 21 years, including 16 in the Provost’s Office as an assistant and associate provost for program and policy coordination. While at UT Dallas, Serenity saw a gap in intentional training and development for faculty put in administrative roles, which led to her first creating “optional” onboarding sessions for new deans and associate deans and later developed into a dissertation on Succession Planning and Leadership Development in Texas Public Universities.  She then created Lead UTD, a leadership development and administrative training program at UT Dallas that she facilitated from 2019-May 2025, during which 100 deans, associate deans, dept/program heads and other academic leadership participated in Lead UTD. While at UT Dallas, Serenity served as the THECB and accreditation liaison, the university-wide policy coordinator, the provost’s office representative on multiple strategic planning and enrollment management committees and as an executive council member of the new […]

Meet the first ever Metaversity Director, Dr. Muhsinah Lateefah Morris. A BS chemistry graduate of the HBCU Clark Atlanta University. She obtained an MS & PhD from the Harvard of the South, Emory University in Biomolecular Chemistry. Dr. Morris has been part of and leading Morehouse’s Metaversity project since the Spring of 2021. She’s won awards for Teaching Excellence at Morehouse College, Best Emerging Technology and Innovation from CBRE, First Place Unconventional Innovation in Industry by T-Mobile, and Educator of the Year for 2022 by STEM Women Atlanta. She resides in McDonough GA with her husband and five sons. One of her sons has autism and she advocates for the entire autism community as a member of the Community Advisory Council and advocacy Ambassadors for Autism Speaks. She’s a VR pioneer in education and is transforming learning globally. She is affectionately known as Dr. M.O.M. (Molder of Minds) by all her students. She continues to mold the minds of educators and students globally in the Metaverse. She is a member of the XR Advisory Council for the XR Association and Futurist Council for Jobs for the Future (JFF). Her goal is to authentically transform the educational system for our future […]

Mr. Mintz serves as the Department Chair for IT Technology within the School of Cybersecurity and Information Technology at the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC). In that role, he manages Graduate and Undergraduate Programs in Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Data Analytics, and Digital Media and Web Development. He also is responsible for an Immersive Pilot effort to explore adding Virtual and Augmented Reality educational content to UMGC courses. Dan brings his experience as the US Department of Transportation’s (DOT) departmental CIO from 2006-2009 and business acumen from serving as a CTO and a COO in the federal business marketplace. Dan is a former Federal 100 winner and is a speaker at conferences and events on the impact of technology, and management challenges in Government and commercial organizations, and cyber-security issues.

O’Neil A.S. Outar serves as Vice President of Institutional Advancement at the Rhode Island School of Design. As a member of the President’s Cabinet, his responsibilities include fundraising, alumni and family relations, and Museum engagement. Under his leadership since 2018, opportunities for alumni and family engagement have expanded dramatically, and RISD has had the best three fundraising years in its history. O’Neil and his team have allowed RISD to make significant increases in student financial aid, including the launch of a new fellowship program for MFA students, and their efforts have led to many improvements to RISD’s Providence campus. Prior to RISD, O’Neil was the Interim Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement at the University of Pittsburgh, where he prepared the organization for a comprehensive campaign. He launched a range of important initiatives at Pitt, including the Chancellor’s Global Advisory Council, the Pitt Day of Giving, and the university’s first scholarship stewardship event—all in support of the university’s highest priorities. From 2014 –2016, O’Neil was the Senior Associate Dean and Director of Development for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. As the chief development officer for Harvard’s largest academic unit, he led the $3.2 billion Campaign for Arts […]