Taking leadership to the next level

Rebecca Blatt

Assistant Dean

Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Rebecca Blatt is Assistant Dean in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Blatt leads recruitment and retention of the school’s master’s degree programs. She also drives the school’s assessment of learning outcomes, oversees online degree and certificate programs and coordinates student awards and new summer high school programs. Prior to her current role, Blatt served as director of the Cronkite Public Insight Network Bureau, which was awarded the prestigious ASU President’s Award for Innovation under her leadership. She also served as director of the Digital Production Bureau. She began her career in public radio at NPR, North Carolina Public Radio and WAMU 88.5 FM in Washington, D.C.

Lara Ferry

Associate Dean of Research and Strategic Initiatives

New College

Lara Ferry is a President’s Professor (2018 Cohort), as well as Barrett Honors Faculty and a Senior Sustainability Scientist, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability.  Dr. Ferry's research is within the field called Functional Morphology.  Functional Morphology is the study of organism structure (i.e., anatomy) and function (e.g., how it works in a particular context).  Dr. Ferry is particularly interested in the evolution of jaws and novel structures associated with food acquisition.  Her work spans the realm of physiology, evolution, ecology, biomechanics, and biomaterials.  Ferry received a BS degree in Biology from Cal Poly State University at San Luis Obispo, and an MS degree in Marine Science from San Francisco State University.  Her PhD is from the University of California Irvine where she was a part of the Comparative Physiology Graduate Group.  Her post-doctoral training was completed at UC Davis in the Center for Population Biology.

Magda Hinojosa

Dean's Fellow and Associate Professor

School of Politics and Global Studies

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Magda Hinojosa is Dean’s Fellow in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Associate Professor in the School of Politics and Global Studies. She received her B.A. in government from the University of Texas at Austin and her A.M. and Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University. Her work examines women’s political incorporation in Latin America, and especially the role of candidate selection procedures in explaining women’s underrepresentation in formal positions of power. Her work has been supported by a Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, Fulbright International Scholarships to both Chile and Mexico, a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, and a Democracy Fellows and Grant award from USAID. She is the author of Selecting Women, Electing Women: Political Representation and Candidate Selection in Latin America (Temple University Press 2012) and is currently working on a new book that examines how increased numbers of female legislators affect citizens' political engagement. She has also authored numerous book chapters and journal articles.

Donna Kidwell

Chief Technology Officer

EdPlus

Donna Kidwell is the Chief Technology Officer of EdPlus at ASU, where she leads technology strategy and development to help shape the future of learning. She served as the Interim Executive Director for the Institute for Transformational Learning at the University of Texas System, where she spearheaded efforts to transform learning technologies on campuses. She was the cofounder of WebStudent, based in Norway, where she worked with universities to help them create online educational programs.  She also worked as the Director of Online Programs at the IC2 Institute, a think and do tank at The University of Texas at Austin where she helped innovators throughout the world.

Prior to moving into higher-ed, she crafted technology innovation strategies for Keller Williams Realty International, where she developed online educational offerings to help over 100k agents develop their own businesses. She started her career as a software consultant, and has worked with clients such as Exxon, Motorola and Agilent Technologies.

She was the recipient of Governor Kim Moon Soo’s award for outstanding efforts in economic development on behalf of small businesses in Gyeonggi Province, Korea. In 2013, she won the “Cadenhead Coin”, a distinguished alumni award for entrepreneurship and innovation from The McCombs Business School, The University of Texas at Austin.

She is a co-chair for the World Learning Summit and often teaches at the University of Agder in Kristiansand, Norway. She is an Adjunct Professor at the Western Technical University in Bergen, Norway and a Visiting Fellow at Teesside University in the UK.

Donna holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Master of Science, Technology Commercialization, both from The University of Texas at Austin.

She has a Doctorate in Business Administration through the Ecole de Management in Grenoble, France.

Erica Mitchell

Executive Director of Academic Services

Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College

Erica Mitchell is Executive Director of Academic Services in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.  She began her career at ASU in 2000 and moved to an administrator role in 2006. In her current role, she oversees graduate and undergraduate advising, retention and student success initiatives, scholarships, admissions and teacher certification. She holds her bachelor’s degree in Business with an emphasis in Human Resources and her Master’s degree in Counseling with an emphasis in Human Relations. Erica is committed to providing a transparent, student centric atmosphere that fosters collaborative relationships, engages students in a positive university experience and empowers students to reach academic goals.

Chris Richardson

Deputy Chief Information Officer of IT Development

Mobility and Smart Cities

University Technology Office

Chris Richardson is the Deputy CIO of IT Development, Mobility and Smart Cities at Arizona State University (www.asu.edu), recently recognized as #1 in the US for Innovation for the second year ahead of MIT and Stanford by US News & World Report. Mr. Richardson and his team are responsible for aligning with key stakeholders to lead the strategy, upgrade cycle, new functionality enhancements, and maintenance of a number of Enterprise applications across the diverse landscape of ASU. Much of this portfolio’s evolution through digital transformation and Internet of Things initiatives are radically changing the relationship and experience with our various end users in the University ecosystem: prospective learners, parents, students, alumni, staff, faculty, commercial business partners, fans of athletics, and the community as a whole which is rapidly becoming a global definition due to our unique vision as the New American University (newamericanuniversity.asu.edu/). Chris Richardson joined ASU from Honeywell where he held a number of positions over an 11- year career, most recently as Senior Director of IT Service Delivery for the Performance Materials and Technologies business group, global accountability of all application and infrastructure operations for a $12B organization. He has also held responsibility as Director for Desktop Services, Senior Program Manager (global telecom referesh and data center rationalization), IT Audit Manager (data privacy), European Manager Co-Sourcing, and Senior Business Analyst (supply chain and finance support) in the Transportation Systems business group.

Chris holds a double B.S. in Zoology and Fisheries from the University of Washington, a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Puget Sound, and a Master of Business Administration (MIS, Finance, and Entrepreneurship emphases) from the University of Arizona.

Mark Roseland

Director and Professor

School of Community Resources and Development

Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions

Mark Roseland is director of and professor in the School of Community Resources and Development at Arizona State University, and senior sustainability scientist with the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at ASU. Before coming to ASU, he was at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Vancouver, Canada, where he was professor of planning in the School of Resource and Environmental Management and director of the Centre for Sustainable Development. He is a Registered Professional Planner and full member of the Canadian Institute of Planners, and he has worked as Chief City Planner for a municipality in the Metro Vancouver area. He has been cited by The Vancouver Sun as "one of Vancouver’s top 50 living public intellectuals" and has received both the SFU Sustainability Network Award for Excellence in Research on Sustainability and the SFU President's Award on Leadership in Sustainability. 

Professor Roseland lectures internationally and advises communities and governments on sustainable development policy and planning. His best-selling book "Toward Sustainable Communities: Solutions for Citizens and Their Governments" is in its 4th edition. He is also the founder of Pando | Sustainable Communities, a multilingual online network to promote collaboration between sustainable communities researchers and practitioners. Roseland was a founding director of Catalyst Community Developments, which leverages real estate assets to create vibrant, affordable and inspiring places for people to live and work in. At SFU, he was a founding member of the SFU Community Trust’s Board of Directors, responsible for developing the award-winning UniverCity neighbourhood.

Sandy Stauffer

Senior Associate Dean and Professor of Music

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts

Sandy Stauffer is Senior Associate Dean in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and Professor of Music in the School of Music at Arizona State University. She has three research focuses: musical creating among children and young adults; place philosophy and conceptions of places in life, learning, and arts contexts; and, narrative as a mode of inquiry. Her studies and essays appear in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, the Journal of Research in Music Education, Research Studies in Music Education, The Mountain Lake Reader, the Journal of Music Teacher Education, and several research handbooks. Sandra is co-founder with Margaret Barrett, University of Queensland, of the Narrative Inquiry in Music Education conference, which will hold its seventh international gathering in 2020. Barrett and Stauffer are co-authors/co-editors of Narrative Inquiry in Music Education: Troubling Certainty (2009) and Narrative Soundings: An Anthology of Narrative Inquiry in Music Education (2012).

In addition to her work in music creating, place, and narrative, Sandra has authored articles on music listening, general music education, and music teacher education. She has been a primary author for music texts used in K-8 schools, and she has worked with composer Morton Subotnick on his creative music technology platforms for children. Her work also includes materials for orchestra education programs and other community music groups.

Sandra was the first Evelyn Smith Professor of Music (2003-2006) at ASU, and she currently serves as coordinator of graduate studies in music education. Prior to joining the ASU faculty, she was a faculty member and coordinator of the Music Education Division at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. Sandy has taught general, choral, and instrumental music in the public schools of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Virginia. She is a graduate of West Chester University (PA) and the University of Michigan.

David Wahls

Senior Director of Development

Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering

David  Wahls serves as the Sr. Director of Development for the Ira A. Fulton  Schools of Engineering. David joined the Fulton Schools of Engineering in 2012  after working for the ASU Foundation in various roles for 7 years. 

David started his development career in the Office of the President at the ASU  Foundation, managing special projects including the transition of the board of directors and the creation of the Trustees at ASU. As Sr. Director of Development for the Fulton Schools, David’s primary responsibilities are to lead the development team and secure new gifts and commitments for the Fulton Schools of Engineering growing support for students and faculty year over year. Over 3 years, the development team at the Fulton Schools of Engineering the team has raised over $50M dollars, brought together an industry catalyst group for the Dean, launched key initiatives that will drive additional philanthropic and research dollars into the future, and formalized join partnerships with industry and research offices in the office of Knowledge and Enterprise Development to advance overall relationships across the institution. 

David holds a bachelor of science in marketing and international business, and a master of public administration from Arizona State University.