Adrianna Kezar, Institute Advisory Council

Adrianna Kezar, PhD, is Dean's Professor of Leadership and co-director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education. She has several years administrative experience in higher education as well both in academic and student affairs. 

Dr. Kezar is a national expert of change, governance and leadership in higher education and her research agenda explores the change process in higher education institutions and the role of leadership in creating change. She is an international expert on the changing faculty and she directs the Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student Success. She also regularly consults for campuses and national organizations related to her work on non-tenure track faculty, STEMM reform, change, collaboration, leadership development, and change.

Becky Wai-Ling Packard, Inaugural Advisory Council, Institute Advisory Council

Becky Wai-Ling Packard, PhD, a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, is Professor of Psychology and Education at Mount Holyoke College. Previously, she served as Chancellor's Leadership Fellow in Residence at University of Massachusetts-Amherst working on equity and inclusion initiatives and a faculty fellow at the University of Michigan working on inclusive climate in STEMM departments. Recently, she studied policy levers in Ireland, including the Athena SWAN initiative. Over the past twenty years, Packard’s research has focused on the mentoring and persistence of students in STEMM fields, and she has worked with over 60 higher education institutions on improving classroom and campus climate.

Billy Williams, Inaugural Advisory Council

Billy M. Williams serves as Vice President for Ethics, Diversity, and Inclusion at the American Geophysical Union (AGU), leading strategic initiatives related to ethics and diversity. Williams was the Principal Investigator and lead organizer for the September 2016 NSF funded workshop Sexual Harassment in the Sciences: A Call to Respond, and serves as a co-PI on the 2017 NSF Grant, ADVANCE Partnership: From the Classroom to the Field: Improving the Workplace in the Geosciences. He is also member of the 2017-18 National Academies’ Committee on Impact of Sexual Harassment in Academic Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Prior to joining AGU in 2012, he served as a Senior Program Officer at the National Academies of Sciences and as a Global R&D Director at the Dow Chemical Company.

Daniela Morales, 2021 Summer Intern

Daniela Morales is a 2021 SEA Change Summer Intern, focusing on Communications and Biomedicine. She is is a rising senior at Georgetown University majoring in Global Health and is on the pre-med track. During her time at Georgetown, she has worked as a Research Assistant at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center where her work has focused on how to deliver breast cancer education for sensitive populations to improve genetic cancer risk assessment. Ms. Morales also serves as the Co-Director of the Conference Committee for UNICEF-Georgetown and has coordinated a discussion on Gender Based violence, and organized a conference on Gang Violence, Migration, and Children in Latin and Central America. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked as an EMT for her local community and in the Infection Prevention and Control department of her local hospital in Warner Robins, Georgia.

Denise Sekaquaptewa, Advisory Council (COOS)

Denise Sekaquaptewa, PhD, is professor and associate chair of the Department of Psychology, University of Michigan. Her research program in experimental social psychology focuses on stereotyping, implicit bias, and the experiences of women and underrepresented minorities in science and engineering. Her research program has been supported by the National Science Foundation. Dr. Sekaquaptewa served as associate editor for the APA journals "Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin", and "Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology". She received the Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award (2015), and the Sarah Goddard Power Award (2012), from the University of Michigan for her work on diversity-related issues.

Imogen Coe, Inaugural Advisory Council

Imogen R. Coe, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biology and the founding Dean of the Faculty of Science at Ryerson University in Toronto and an affiliate scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Keenan Research Centre at St. Michael’s Hospital. Coe has been a leading Canadian advocate and advisor on equity, diversity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) for many years and has spoken on the issue on numerous occasions, in diverse venues, such as TEDx, the Gender Summit, and the Canadian Science Policy Conference. In fall 2016 she was recognized by the Women's Executive Network (WXN) as one of Canada's Top 100 Women, in the Trail Blazer category, for her advocacy work promoting equity in STEMM.

Joan Reede, Institute Advisory Council

Appointed as the first Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership in January 2002, Joan Reede, MD, is responsible for the development and management of a comprehensive program that provides leadership, guidance, and support to promote the increased recruitment, retention, and advancement of underrepresented minority faculty at Harvard Medical School (HMS). 

In 1990, Dr. Reede founded the HMS Minority Faculty Development Program and also currently serves as Faculty Director of the Community Outreach programs. In 2008, she became the Director of the Harvard Catalyst Program for Faculty Development and Diversity. In addition, Dr. Reede holds appointments of Professor of Medicine at HMS, Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and Assistant in Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Reede created and developed more than 20 programs at HMS that aim to address pipeline and leadership issues for minorities and women who are interested in careers in medicine, academic and scientific research, and the healthcare professions.

In 1989, prior to coming to HMS, Dr. Reede served as the medical director of a Boston community health center, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Youth Services. She has also worked as a pediatrician in community and academic health centers, juvenile prisons, and public schools.

Karen Arcos, 2021 Summer Intern

Karen Arcos, PhD, is a 2021 SEA Change Summer Intern through the American Association of People with Disabilities’ summer internship. Dr. Arcos was raised in southern California and is of Colombian and Mauritian background. She earned her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience and an emphasis in Chicano/Latino Studies from the University of California, Irvine, along with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a Spanish minor from the University of Southern California. Dr. Arcos has accomplished feats such as earning the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship despite being totally blind.

Thanks to those who have helped her be where she is today, Dr. Arcos is passionate about giving back to her community. She mentors students on undergraduate and graduate admissions processes, as well as on conducting experimental procedures, to show them that they, too, can pursue advanced degrees. As department representative for a campus-based diversity council during graduate school, she co-organized a school-wide racial [in]equity workshop to improve the racial climate for underrepresented communities among faculty and students. Currently, Dr. Arcos is collaborating with the SEA Change team to design a course for improving access and equity in STEMM fields. During her free time, she enjoys reading mysteries, spending time with family and friends, and hiking.

Kelly Mack, Institute Advisory Council

Kelly Mack, PhD, is the Vice President for Undergraduate STEM Education and Executive Director of Project Kaleidoscope at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).  Prior to joining AAC&U, Dr. Mack was the Senior Program Director for the National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE Program while on loan from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) where, as a Professor of Biology, she taught courses in Physiology and Endocrinology for 17 years. 

During her tenure at NSF, Dr. Mack managed an annual budget of approximately $17 million, facilitated the inclusion of issues targeting women of color into the national discourse on gender equity in the STEM disciplines and significantly increased the participation of predominantly undergraduate institutions, community colleges and minority serving institutions in the ADVANCE portfolio. At UMES, Dr. Mack served in many capacities including Biology Program Director and Principal Investigator, Director or Co-Director for externally funded projects including the UMES ADVANCE Program which focused on issues related to African American women faculty in the STEMM disciplines and led to the initiation of several institution-wide practices to promote the professional development of all faculty. 

Dr. Mack has served as a member of the Board of Governors for the National Council on Undergraduate Research and is a current member of the National Institutes of Health Review Subcommittee for Training, Workforce Development and Diversity.  She also recently completed a brief stint as Executive Secretary for the NSF Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering, which is the Congressionally mandated advisory body that focuses on efforts to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in the STEM disciplines.

Lance Pérez, Institute Advisory Council

Lance Pérez, PhD, was named dean of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering in May 2018, following two years as interim dean. Pérez previously was associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of graduate studies at the university. He has been a faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering since 1996 and is currently the Heins Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

In his previous administrative positions, Dr. Pérez was responsible for faculty and leadership development, promotion and tenure, instruction technology and classroom facilities’ improvements, and graduate education. As a faculty member, he has won numerous teaching awards and has been principal investigator or co-principal investigator on more than $15 million in federally funded research. His research interests include signal and information processing, engineering education, and faculty leadership development. From 2008-10, Dr. Pérez was a program director in the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation.

Leslie Gonzales, Institute Advisory Council

Leslie Gonzales, EdD, is an associate professor at Michigan State University. Dr. Gonzales’ research focuses on (a) legitimacy within academia; (b) relations of power that govern the recognition of knowledge and knowers and (c) the possibility of agency among academics. Dr. Gonzales is committed to exposing and challenging both material and symbolic injustices within academia, particularly in the careers of historically underrepresented scholars and amongst scholars whose research agendas fall outside conventional norms. As a Latina, working class, first- generation-college-student-turned academic who earned all three of her academic degrees from Hispanic Serving Institutions, Dr. Gonzales aims to inform various processes that shape the academic profession, including graduate student preparation, faculty hiring and onboarding, and faculty evaluation.

Marco Molinaro, Inaugural Advisory Council

Marco Molinaro, PhD, is the Assistant Vice Provost for Educational Effectiveness at University of California Davis where he created and oversees the Center for Educational Effectiveness (CEE). The CEE team empowers instructors and staff, improving the educational system and fostering educational innovation and discovery, all in service of removing disparities in undergraduate student outcomes while maximizing learning. Molinaro is Co-PI of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence project to ensure that all STEMM students have the opportunity to pursue and excel in STEMM fields through the efforts of dedicated and informed instructors utilizing evidence-based instructional practices. He also serves on multiple national committees involved in higher education reform and diversity.

Michael Pullin, Institute Advisory Council

Dr. Michael Pullin, PhD, is the Associate Dean for Academics in the Office of Academic Affairs at Queensborough Community College. He oversees the college's Coordinated Undergraduate Education and University Skills Immersion Programs, academic programs development, transfer and articulation agreements, the Transfer Resource Center, reverse transfer, CUNY Start, CLIP, College Now, the Business Technology Early College High School (BTECH), and the college’s NYC Men Teach program. He also assists departments with program and curriculum changes and with the development of the college catalog.

Dr. Pullin was awarded a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research in Environmental Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Following that appointment, he served as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Notre Dame. In 2004 he move to New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology where he led a number education and outreach programs that focused on freshman retention, the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority students in STEMM, and the successful transfer of community college students to STEMM degree programs at four-year institutions. In 2014, Dr. Pullin joined Broward College where he was the Associate Dean of Science. There, he led a multi-disciplinary science department with nearly 100 faculty members. He also developed an NSF-funded Innovative Science Teaching Institute that assisted faculty in transforming their classrooms through the use of engaging and evidence-based teaching approaches. Dr. Pullin left Broward College to join Queensborough Community College in 2018.

Muriel Poston, Inaugural Advisory Council

Muriel E. Poston, PhD, is currently serving as the Division Director, Division of Biological Infrastructure in the Biological Sciences Directorate at the National Science Foundation. A plant systematist with an interest in environmental studies, Poston served as Dean of the Faculty/Vice President for Academic Affairs at Pitzer College from 2012-15. Throughout her career she has worked to support efforts to broaden the participation of underrepresented students and faculty in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, and sought to enhance the capacity and infrastructure of the STEM facilities. Poston also served as a member of the National Research Council Board of Life Sciences and as a member and past chair of the NSF Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering.

Nathalie Podeszfinski, Inaugural Advisory Council

Nathalie Podeszfinski is the Project Manager for the implementation of Athena SWAN in Canada at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. She was the Project Manager of the Gender Summit 2017 North America. Previously, Ms. Podeszfinski worked for 13 years in federal politics in different ministerial offices. She has extensive experience in the development and implementation of numerous complex projects, in providing strategic advice to senior officials, the development of policies, and writing communications strategies. She has an MA in project management as well as a BA in business administration from the Université du Québec en Outaouais.

Paula Rayman, Inaugural Advisory Council, Chair

In the 1980s, Paula Rayman, PhD, launched "Pathways for Women in the Sciences" funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She is the Co-Founder of CURIES which published The Equity Equation (published by Jossey-Bass) and was a member of the BEST Advisory Board chaired by Dr. Shirley Jackson which published Lost Talent: The Challenge for Diversity in STEM Fields.  She has been the Principal Investigator on many NSF grants focused on the necessity for transformative change in the US STEMM workforce and co-created the original partnership between the Equality Challenge Unit and SEA Change at AAAS. She is currently a Senior Scholar at AAAS and an emeritus professor.

Rita Colwell, Inaugural Advisory Council

Rita Colwell, PhD, chaired the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (CWSEM) of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) from 2012-2017 and initiated the current NASEM study on sexual harassment. While serving as the Director of the National Science Foundation from 1998-2004, Colwell played a major role in establishing ADVANCE and was a strong supporter of minority serving institutions. Colwell is currently a Distinguished University Professor both at the University of Maryland at College Park and at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health