Aspire Alliance Team

The NSF Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES Aspire Alliance PIs, Co-PIs, and Senior Personnel for the NSF awards (Grant numbers: 1834518, 1834522, 1834510, 1834513, 1834526, 1834521) are listed below.  We have many committed and passionate partners that help support the work of Aspire. The additional partners and researchers are linked in the headers for each section.

Aspire Director

Howard Gobstein Headshot

Howard Gobstein

Senior Vice President and Co-Project Director, Science & Mathematics Teaching Imperative, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities

Gobstein (PI, APLU) is director of the Alliance. He is responsible for the coherence, success and growth of the Alliance, and coordinating management, budgetary and reporting requirements.

Jessica Bennett Headshot

Jessica Bennett

Assistant Vice President, STEM Education, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities

Jessica Bennett (Co-PI, APLU) is co-lead of the Institutional Change Initiative.

Tonya Peeples Headshot

Tonya Peeples

Senior Associate Dean, College of Engineering 

Tonya Peeples (Co-PI, Penn State) is co-lead of the Institutional Change Initiative. 

Levi Shanks

Director, Academic & Student Affairs, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities

Levi Shanks is the Project Manager of the Institutional Change Initiative.

Rochelle Sapp Headshot

Rochelle Sapp

Extension Leadership Specialist, Office of Learning and Organizational Development, University of Georgia

Rochelle Sapp (PI, University of Georgia) is responsible for development, delivery, and coordination of evaluation of the leadership training program. 

National Change

Donald Gillian-Daniel Headshot

Donald Gillian-Daniel

Director of Inclusive Teaching Programming, Collaborative for Advancing Learning & Teaching, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Gillian-Daniel (PI, University of Wisconsin) co-leads the National Change Initiative.

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Robin Greenler

Assistant Director, Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning, (CIRTL), University of Wisconsin - Madison

Robin Greenler (co-PI, University of Wisconsin) is co-lead of the National Change Initiative. Greenler implements and disseminates synchronous online workshops, online trainer community support, and local trainer support, and develops, implements, and disseminates inclusive teaching and advising area content. 

Craig Ogilvie Headshot

Craig Ogilvie

Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Vice President of Research, Montana State University 

Craig Ogilvie (PI, Iowa State University) co-leads the Regional Change Initiative. 

Gigi Delk

Professor of Computer Science, Tyler Junior College

Gigi Delk co-leads the Regional Change Initiative. 

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Lorenzo Baber

Associate Professor, School of Education, Loyola University of Chicago

Lorenzo Baber (co-PI, Iowa State University) is responsible for adapting the assessment tool on diverse faculty recruiting and retention to the 2-year college setting. 

Mary Darrow

Assistant Director and Evaluation Coordinator, Graduate College, Iowa State University 

Mary Darrow (co-PI, Iowa State University) coordinates the Regional Collaborative activities at Iowa State. 

Benjamin Flores

Associate Professor, Department of Industrial, Manufacturing and Systems Engineering, University of Texas at El Professor and Associate Dean and UT System LSAMP Director, University of Texas at El Paso 

Benjamin Flores, (PI, UTEP) co-leads the Texas Regional Collaborative, with a focus on West Texas. 

Jessica Gregg

Senior Associate Director, Center for Education, Innovation and Learning in the Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles

Jessica Gregg, (PI, UCLA) facilitates the development of the SoCal Regional Collaborative and oversees the training and mentoring of the SoCal Collaborative Aspire Interns. 

James Grover Headshot

James Grover

Professor, Department of Biology, Interim Dean, College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs, University of Texas at Arlington

James Grover (co-PI, UTEP) co-leads the Texas Regional Collaborative, with a focus on North Texas. 

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Rachel Kennison

Executive Director, Center for Education, Innovation and Learning in the Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles

Rachel Kennison (Co-PI, UCLA) serves as the Administrative Co-lead of CIRTL@UCLA and Director of CIRTL programming, providing consultation on Aspire programming and sustainability planning.

Leslie Gonzales Headshot

Leslie Gonzales

Associate Professor of Higher Education, Michigan State University

Leslie Gonzales (co-PI,  Michigan State University) co-leads the Research Team, coordinating execution of the research design and instrument development, data collection, communication across studies, and dissemination of findings.   

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Kimberly Griffin

Associate Professor of Education , University of Maryland, College Park

Kimberly Griffin (co-PI, University of Maryland, College Park) co-leads the Research Team, coordinating execution of the research design and instrument development, data collection, communication across studies, and dissemination of findings. 

Evaluation

Lucas Hill

Associate Researcher / Evaluator at the University of Wisconsin.

Lucas Hill (co-PI, University of Wisconsin) leads the developmental and formative evaluation activities across the Aspire Alliance. 

Liz Litzler

Director, Center for Evaluation & Research for STEM Equity, and Affiliate Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of Washington

Liz Litzler leads the summative evaluation activities and co-leads the Aspire Alliance evaluation team with Judy Milton.

Backbone

Kacy Redd Headshot

Kacy Redd

Associate Vice President, TEM Education and Research, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities

Kacy Redd (co-PI, APLU) co-leads the Alliance Backbone, with responsibility for the Knowledge Management and Partnership Development functions of the Backbone. She also supports the Institutional Change Initiative.

Robin Parent Headshot

Robin Parent

Assistant Vice President, STEM Education and DEI Officer, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities

Robin Parent (co-PI, APLU) is the Project Manager for the Aspire Alliance and co-lead of the Backbone team. She manages communication platforms, coordinates the Alliance master calendar, works with Dr. Redd to provide regular communication engagement with Alliance members, coordinates the Alliance’s strategic communication plan, and assists with project annual and final reports.

Bennett Goldberg Headshot

Bennett Goldberg

Director of Research in Higher Education, Training and Evaluation in the Office for Research, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University

Bennett Goldberg has responsibility for the collective impact and social equity function of the Backbone. 

Diane Codding

Postdoctoral Fellow