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Featured Speakers

George Justice, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs & Professor of English at The University of Tulsa

George Justice is provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and a professor of English at The University of Tulsa. Previously, he was dean of humanities at Arizona State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Justice is one of the nation’s leading thinkers on issues facing universities, with much of his work focusing on the opportunities for collaboration between faculty and administration, particularly during times of crisis, and the importance of the arts and humanities. He is the author of How to be a Dean from Johns Hopkins University Press, a consultant on faculty development projects and a scholar of Jane Austen and 18th-century English literature, particularly women’s writing and the relationship between the publishing industry and authors. Justice received his bachelor of arts in English from Wesleyan University and his master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.

Julian Vasquez Heilig, Ph.D.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Western Michigan University

Julian Vasquez Heilig is provost and vice president for academic affairs at Western Michigan University. He’s known as a change maker who has collaboratively delivered rapid and exceptional results in various prior leadership roles, including at the University of Kentucky, where his tenure as dean of the College of Education was marked by significant freshman student enrollment and diversity gains despite a worldwide pandemic. His research and practice is primarily focused on K-12 and higher education curriculum, policy and leadership that impacts equity and innovation. A prolific scholar, he has authored 70 publications and spoken at hundreds of events. Vasquez Heilig received his Ph.D. in educational administration and policy analysis and a master’s degree in sociology from Stanford University. He also earned a master’s in higher education and a bachelor’s degree in history and psychology from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Colleen Flaherty
Senior Editor for Special Content at Inside Higher Ed

Colleen Flaherty, Senior Editor for Special Content, previously served as Student Voice Editor for Inside Higher Ed. Prior to joining the publication in 2012, Colleen was military editor at the Killeen Daily Herald, outside Fort Hood, Texas. Before that, she covered government and land use issues for the Greenwich Time and Hersam Acorn Newspapers in her home state of Connecticut. After graduating from McGill University in Montreal with a degree in English literature, Colleen taught English and English as a second language in public schools in the Bronx, New York. She earned her M.S.Ed. from City University of New York Lehman College as part of the New York City Teaching Fellows program.

Ryan Quinn
Reporter for Faculty Issues at Inside Higher Ed

Ryan Quinn, faculty issues reporter, has covered education for nearly a decade, starting at the Charleston (West Virginia) Gazette in 2014 and covering that state's K-12 system, higher education institutions and related bills in the state Legislature until joining Inside Higher Ed in January 2023. Before starting the schools beat, he covered local governments in Putnam County, West Virginia, and Franklin County, Kentucky. A native of James Island, South Carolina, he graduated from the University of South Carolina with a journalism bachelor's degree.