REGISTER

SPEAKERS

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.

Jack Suess
Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

Mr. Jack Suess is vice president of IT & CIO at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and has led IT at UMBC since 1997. He is a first-generation college student and cares deeply about student success and works tirelessly to leverage technology and data to advance student success in higher education. Mr. Suess serves on the executive leadership team of the university and reports to the president, Dr. Valerie Sheares Ashby. During his tenure as CIO, UMBC has received awards and recognition for its work in advanced networking, cybersecurity, identity management, data analytics, cloud services and learning analytics. Through those efforts, Mr. Suess is a frequent presenter at national conferences and has served on the boards of Internet2, EDUCAUSE, InCommon and 1EdTech.

Sara Custer 
Editor in Chief at Inside Higher Ed

Sara Custer became Inside Higher Ed's editor-in-chief in March 2024. Before joining Inside Higher Ed, she was editor of Times Higher Education's (THE) Campus, a collection of daily resources designed for higher education faculty and staff members to learn, share and connect with colleagues at universities and colleges worldwide. Prior to that, she shaped THE’s online presence as its digital editor, helping to launch THE’s newsletter strategy and overseeing daily, weekly and monthly publications. From 2012 to 2017, she served as editor and senior reporter at The PIE News, covering the international education industry. Sara grew up in Cushing, Okla., and earned a B.A. in English literature from Loyola University Chicago and an M.A. in international journalism from City, University of London.

Anne Clancy, Ed.D.
Executive Higher Education Advisor and Strategist at T-Mobile USA

Dr. Anne Clancy is an executive higher education advisor and strategist at T-Mobile USA, leading initiatives to partner with colleges and universities, close the digital divide, and improve access and equity for under-resourced students. She collaborates with campuses to modernize infrastructure and expand network capacity to support research, academics and student life. With over 20 years in healthcare and nonprofit leadership and 14 years in higher education—including roles as provost and vice president for academic and student affairs—Anne is a passionate advocate for affordable, high-quality education that drives economic and personal growth. Anne has guided multiple institutions through strategic planning, equity initiatives and technology transformation. She holds an MBA, is a certified master of online teaching, and earned her doctorate in education with a focus on organizational leadership.

Tanya Joosten, Ph.D.
Founder & Executive Director at DETA Research, the National Research Center for Distance Education and Technological Advancements and Senior Scientist & Director of Digital Learning Research and Development, Academic Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Dr. Tanya Joosten is executive director of DETA Research, and a scientist and director at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she previously served as special advisor to the provost for innovation initiatives. Her current work focuses on redesigning digital learning systems, analytic practices and AI-supported tools to address structural inequities rather than student deficits from a social scientific lens. Dr. Joosten’s cross-institutional research examines digital divides in access, readiness, learning design and student support, identifying how institutional infrastructure and faculty practices disproportionately affect underrepresented, racially minoritized, poverty-affected, first-generation and disabled students. A widely recognized author and speaker, Dr. Joosten has written numerous publications including books, articles and reports, along with invited blogs for EDUCAUSE, WCET, Pearson and Inside Higher Ed. Her work has been featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and podcasts such as her recent episode on TOPcast released last month. She has served in numerous advisory roles including boards and committees for various organizations, including Google and McGraw Hill Education.

Troy J. Hahn
Chief Information Officer and Assistant Vice President at Queens College, City University of New York

Troy J. Hahn serves as chief information officer and assistant vice president at Queens College. As the CIO, Hahn directs the Office of Information Technology Services (ITS), which supports the IT needs of the college administratively and academically. He is also responsible for developing the college’s technology strategy and providing leadership and direction concerning the technical operations of the college’s core academic and administrative applications, network, telephone and data systems.

Louise Lee
Principal Consultant at Times Higher Education

Louise Lee, principal consultant at Times Higher Education, is an experienced researcher and consultant with a background in collaborating with universities, education ministries and corporations to enhance higher education. She leads projects on digital transformation, internationalization and sustainability. With prior experience working in universities across Canada, Hong Kong, Türkiye and the UK, she has worked on impactful initiatives in digital competence and capacity development. Her expertise includes instructional design and curriculum/program development, with a focus on the integration of data and technology to enhance learner outcomes and student experience.