Kristina M. Ropella, Ph.D

Dr. Kristina (Kris) Ropella is Opus Dean of the Opus College of Engineering and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Marquette University (MU). She joined the biomedical engineering faculty at Marquette in 1990 and served as chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering from 2004 to 2013, when she was named the executive associate dean for the college prior to assuming the role of Dean. In these leadership roles, Dr. Ropella has provided vision and led strategic planning and implementation, creation of academic programs, engagement with industry, government and other academic institutions, fundraising, and community outreach.

E. Duco Jansen, M.S., Ph.D.

E. Duco Jansen is Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Professor of Neurological Surgery. Since 2013 he has served as Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the School of Engineering at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN). During 2016 he also served as interim Chair of the Biomedical Engineering Department. He holds several graduate degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Biomedical Sciences. They include an M.S. from the University of Texas, an M.S. from Utrecht University and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas. He joined the faculty of the Biomedical Engineering Department at Vanderbilt University in 1997. He is a Fellow of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS), the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). Furthermore he served as President of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS), the largest and preeminent international society in the field of medical laser applications, in 2010/11 and was a member of its executive committee for 4 years. His research areas include neurophotonics, laser-tissue interaction, cellular effects of laser-induced stimuli, application of light, lasers and optical technology in medicine and biology. In the Biophotonics Center at Vanderbilt University, he develops and implements various optical technologies for diagnosing and treating both physiological and pathological processes in the human body with a specific focus on the development of optical technologies to interface with the nervous system. He has published over 200 peer reviewed papers, bookchapters, and conference proceedings, mentored 15 PhD students, 20 MS students and numerous undergraduate researchers, and over the past 20 years has obtained and managed well over $ 30 million in external grants.

Cynthia Pellock, Ph.D.

Cynthia Pellock is the Associate Director of the Center for Professional Personnel Development in Vocational Technical Education and is an Associate Professor of Education. She teaches Education for Work (WF ED 001), Work Based Education (WF ED 546), and History and Philosophy of Workforce Education (WF ED 560). Her research interests include (1) preparation of career and technical educators and (2) the individual and community impact of workforce education. Dr. Pellock is a project leader with experience in problem solving, grant writing, team facilitation, marketing, human resource management, program planning, and student retention at higher education institutions and public and private, non-profit organizations. Before coming to Penn State, Dr. Pellock worked at Clarion University of Pennsylvania as the Director of the Upward Bound Program and Assistant Professor in Academic Support Services. She also has been an administrator of a county agency for older Americans, served as director of a community volunteer program, and was a social worker with a residential treatment facility for abused and troubled adolescents. Dr. Pellock holds an M.S.W. with a concentration in community organization from the University of Maryland at Baltimore and a Ph.D. in Workforce Education and Development from The Pennsylvania State University. Her doctoral emphasis included studies in policy analysis.

Edward Coyle

Edward J. Coyle is the John. B. Peatman Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Director of the Vertically-Integrated Projects (VIP) Program and the VIP Consortium. Dr. Coyle is a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and was a co-recipient of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering’s 2005 Bernard M. Gordon Award for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education. He was also a co-recipient of the American Society for Engineering Education’s 1997 Chester F. Carlson Award for Innovation in Engineering Education and the IEEE Signal Processing Society’s 1986 Paper Award. Dr. Coyle was elected Fellow of the IEEE for his contributions to the theory of nonlinear signal processing. His current research interests include wireless and sensor networks, signal and information processing, and systemic reform of higher education.

D’Artagnan Scorza, Ph.D.

Dr. Scorza is serving his first term on the Inglewood Unified School District Board of Education. As a US Navy Iraq-War Veteran he helped establish a naval operations unit supporting navy personnel traveling in and out of hostile zones. He attended both UCLA and National University and earned his Ph.D. in Education from UCLA. At UCLA, he helped organize an effort to increase enrollment of African American and Latino students and served on the UC Board of Regents.  In addition to his service on the school board D’Artagnan is the founder and executive director of the Social Justice Learning Institute—a non-profit organization that works to help communities achieve health and educational equity.  To that end, he’s written extensively on the importance of social justice youth development as a strategy that fosters academic development. D’Artagnan also chaired Inglewood Unified School District’s Measure GG campaign, which secured $90 million in school improvement bonds to renovate Inglewood schools and expand access to a safe, healthy, and quality education.  He served as a spokesperson for the Citizens for Revitalizing the City of Champions Revitalization Initiative, an organization gathering support to add a sports and entertainment zone to the Hollywood Park project in Inglewood, California.  He was named a 2010 Education Pioneers Fellow and a 2013-2014 Business Alliance for Local Living Economies Fellow.