Leadership Symposium – Speakers

Andrew Alleyne, Ph.D.

Dr. Andrew Alleyne received the B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace from Princeton University in 1989, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1992 and 1994, respectively. He is currently the Dean of the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities where he also holds the Russell and Elizabeth Bennett Chair. Prior to joining Minnesota he was a faculty member for nearly 30 years in the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering departments at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He is a Fellow of IEEE, ASME and AAAS and was a Fulbright Fellow to the Netherlands where he held a Visiting Professorship at TU Delft. His research background encompasses the modeling, simulation, and implementation of control systems for complex systems and nonlinear systems. His academic record includes supervision of over 80 M.S. and Ph.D. students and over 400 conference and journal publications. His basic research efforts have been applied and commercialized with patents and two separate software tools licensed to industry and transitioned to the Department of Defense. He has been active in external advisory boards for universities, industry and government including the U.S. Air Force, Army, and the Department of Energy. He has been a strong advocate for diversifying academia and has received the Society of Women Engineers Advocating Women in Engineering Award as well as the University of Illinois Larine Cowan Award for Teaching and Mentoring in Diversity.

Maritza Salazar Campo, Ph.D., MSW

Assistant Professor of Organization and Management
The Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine

Maritza Salazar Campo is an Assistant Professor of Organization & Management at the Paul Merage School of Business. Her research focuses on knowledge integration, learning and innovation in interdisciplinary teams. Dr. Salazar Campo is a graduate of Stanford University, USC., and has her Ph.D. in Business Administration from NYU’s Stern School of Business. She is the Founding President of the International Network for the Science of Team Science (INSciTS), Program Director of Team Science at UC Irvine and UCLA, and a lead contributor to the Team Science Acceleration Lab at UCI (https://tsal.uci.edu/).

Julie Filizetti, Ed.D.

Partner
Isaacson, Miller

As a leader in our San Francisco office, Julie focuses primarily on higher education leadership roles in public and private institutions, including presidents, provosts, vice presidents, deans, and directors. She also conducts searches in a range of areas, including academic medicine, training and development, advancement, research, and technology. Since coming to Isaacson, Miller in 2007, she has developed strong relationships with many clients who turn to Julie for her ability to adapt to an organization’s needs and grow their leadership capacity.

Prior to transitioning to the search world, she served as the associate provost for academic affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey and as a fellow of the American Council on Education, the nation’s premier higher education leadership development program. She also spent 12 years as a naval officer, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander.

Julie is a member of the Willamette University Board of Trustees and has served on advisory boards for Villanova University, Santa Clara University, and the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. She is a Menlo College Trustee Emeritus and chaired the board from 2010-2014. A graduate of Leadership California and Leadership Monterey Peninsula, she is a frequent speaker on how to best prepare for the search process. She holds an EdD in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of Villanova University and the Naval Postgraduate School.

Regan Gough

Partner
Isaacson, Miller

Regan Gough joined Isaacson, Miller in 2001 and has over 25 years of experience in executive recruiting for both nonprofit and for-profit organizations. She has served as an anchor in the firm’s San Francisco office, helping to build the practice across a range of sectors, including higher education, philanthropy and arts and culture. She is a member of the firm’s inaugural diversity, equity and inclusion committee and co-lead of the firm’s philanthropy practice. Regan has conducted numerous searches for presidential, cabinet, and senior-level executives for universities and liberal arts colleges, visual and performing arts organizations and art and design colleges, foundations, and other organizations focused upon impacting the social good. Prior to joining Isaacson, Miller, Regan was a Managing Consultant for a subsidiary of a major international search firm and the sole proprietor of her own recruiting firm. She began her career in research at a boutique executive search firm. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Regan holds a BA in English, cum laude, from Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

Joi Hayes-Scott

Consultant
Russell Reynolds Associates

Joi Hayes-Scott specializes in conducting leadership searches for higher education institutions. Based in Washington D.C., Joi has a demonstrated track record of effective change management and fostering performance enhancement within leadership teams across the Social Impact Sector at Russell Reynolds Associates. She works with clients to recruit top executive and non-executive talent, working with organizations of all sizes and geographies. Joi joined our firm from the Education Advisory Board, where she was a senior consultant and strategic lead. In this role, she managed end-to-end relationships with university clients. She also provided training and technical support for academic leaders. Previously, Joi was a higher education analyst for the Huron Consulting Group. She began her career at Vanderbilt University, working in workforce performance and program coordination.

Joi holds a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia and an MS in higher education, with honors, from Vanderbilt University.

Elizabeth G. Loboa, Ph.D.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Southern Methodist University

Elizabeth G. Loboa, Ph.D., has served as SMU’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs since July 6, 2020. Dr. Loboa brings a distinguished academic record and broad university leadership experience to her role. At SMU, she has successfully challenged community members to establish academic priorities for the next 3-5 years that will allow SMU to reach its full potential as a premier research and teaching university with global impact. As a trained biomedical engineer and established researcher, Loboa understands the importance of data to inform decisions and has spent considerable time in her first year establishing the data and reporting structures that will best shape and define the university’s academic strategy. She has a deep commitment to transparency and has opened up multiple avenues for consistent and open communication across the university.
As the university’s chief academic officer, she is responsible for the overall quality of teaching, scholarship and research and all aspects of academic life, ranging from admissions and faculty development to supervision of SMU’s eight schools, library system, international programs, and SMU’s eight degree granting schools: Cox School of Business, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman School of Law, Meadows School of the Arts, Lyle School of Engineering, Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, Perkins School of Theology, and Simmons School of Education and Human Development.

Prior to SMU, Loboa was the 11th dean of the University of Missouri’s College of Engineering since October 2015 and Ketcham Professor of the College of Engineering. Since 2018, and concurrent with her deanship, she served as vice chancellor for strategic partnerships. She was the first woman to serve as the College of Engineering’s dean. During her decanal administration, she oversaw more than 140 faculty members and approximately 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students. Loboa previously served as associate chair and professor of the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, and as a professor of materials science and engineering at North Carolina State University.

As one of the co-leaders, Loboa was instrumental in the largest capital research project ever undertaken at the University of Missouri – the $221 million NextGen Precision Health Institute. She worked to bring together the assets of five MU colleges -Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources, Arts & Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine – in partnership with the Truman VA Hospital, the MU Research Reactor, and MU Healthcare.

She received both her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and her master’s degree in biomechanical engineering from Stanford University, and earned her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from UC Davis.

Loboa has been recognized for her work as an engineer, inventor, researcher and academic administrator. She is a fellow in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the National Academy of Inventors, the Biomedical Engineering Society and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. She has earned the Insight into Diversity Giving Back Award, the Sigma Xi Faculty Research Award, the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Award and the UK-US Stem Cell Collaboration Development Award. Loboa also is the recipient of the University of California Davis Distinguished Engineering Alumni Medal as well as the Stanford University Distinguished Alumni Scholar Award.

Loboa serves on the advisory board of the AAAS Education Counsel Societies Consortium on Sexual Harassment in STEMM. She is a member of the board of directors of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AOI). She currently serves on the nominations committee for the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Loboa is a past member of the executive council of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, Inc. Until becoming provost, Loboa served as a director for the Engineering Deans Council for the American Society for Engineering Education and on the AAU’s Strategy for Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination Advisory Board.

Susan S. Margulies, Ph.D.

Assistant Director of NSF, Engineering Directorate
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory School of Medicine
GRA Eminent Scholar in Injury Biomechanics

Susan Margulies, Ph.D., is an assistant director of the National Science Foundation, leading the Directorate for Engineering, and a professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, jointly housed in the College of Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and the School of Medicine at Emory University. She is Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Injury Biomechanics and previously served as chair of the department. Using an integrated biomechanics approach consisting of relevant animal models, cell and tissue experiments, and complementary computational models and human studies, Dr. Margulies’s research has generated new knowledge about the structural and functional responses of the brain and lung to their mechanical environment. Her lab has pioneered new methods for measuring functional effects of large or repeated tissue distortions; identified injury tolerances, response cascades, and causal signaling pathways; and translated these discoveries to preclinical therapeutic trials to mitigate and prevent brain and lung injuries in children and adults. Dr. Margulies is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Biomedical Engineering Society, and American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in her presentation are those of Dr. Margulies and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Rena Seltzer, MSW, ACSW

President
Leader Academic

Rena Seltzer is leadership and faculty coach and dynamic trainer with over nineteen years of experience coaching academics across the span of their careers. Rena is author of The Coach’s Guide for Women Professors: Who Want a Successful Career and a Well-Balanced Life. She coaches and presents professional development workshops for leaders and faculty members at universities including Yale, the University of Michigan, Cornell University, and the University of Wisconsin, as well as the Academy of Management. Rena’s coaching and workshops are deeply influenced by her interest in supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion and by research in the field of positive organizational scholarship.

Jennifer L. West, Ph.D.

Dean of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Virginia
National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Inventors

Jennifer West joined UVA as Dean of Engineering and Applied Science in July 2021. Prior to this, she had been on the faculty at Duke since 2012, after having been the department chair and Cameron Professor of Bioengineering Rice University. Professor West was one of the founding members of Rice’s Department of Bioengineering, building it to a top ten program over the prior sixteen years. Dr. West became the Associate Dean for Doctoral Education in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke in 2014. In 2019, the Duke Graduate School honored her with the Dean’s Graduate Mentoring Award.

Professor West’s research focuses on the development of novel biofunctional materials. Part of her program has developed nanoparticle-based approaches to biophotonics therapeutics and diagnostics. An example of this work is the application of near-infrared absorbing nanoparticles for photothermal tumor ablation. In animal studies, this therapeutic strategy has demonstrated very high efficacy with minimal side effects or damage to surrounding normal tissues. Professor West founded Nanospectra Biosciences, Inc. to commercialize the nanoparticle-assisted photothermal ablation technology, now called AuroLase. Nanospectra Biosciences, Inc., located in Houston, TX, is the recipient of a NIST ATP Award and a grant from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. Professor West is a director of the company. The company has built manufacturing facilities, and AuroLase cancer therapy is now in human clinical trials.

Professor West has received numerous accolades for her work. In 2017, she was elected to the National Academy of Inventors. In 2016, she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. In 2015, she received the Society for Biomaterials Clemson Award. In 2014, she was recognized by Thomson Reuters as a Highly Cited Researcher, the top 1% in the field of materials science. In 2010 she was named Texas Inventor of the Year and also Admiral of the Texas Navy (highest honor the governor of Texas can bestow on a civilian). In 2008, The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas honored her with the O’Donnell Prize in Engineering as the top engineer in the state. In 2006, she was named one of 20 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professors, recognizing integration of world class research and teaching. She has been listed by MIT Technology Review as one of the 100 most innovative young scientists and engineers worldwide. Other recognitions include the Christopher Columbus Foundation Frank Annunzio Award for scientific innovation, Nanotechnology Now’s Best Discovery of 2003, Small Times Magazine’s Researchers of the Year in 2004, and the Society for Biomaterials Outstanding Young Investigator Award.

Professor West has authored more than 200 research articles. She also holds 18 patents that have been licensed to eight different companies. She has lectured at numerous institutions, including Harvard, Harvard Medical School, MIT, FDA, and NCI. She was an invited speaker at the 2006 Nobel Symposium and invited back in 2014 for the 50th Anniversary Nobel Symposium.

Professor West has served as a member of the CSR Council and the Bioengineering, Technology, and Surgical Sciences study section at NIH, and has served on numerous other review boards for NIH and NSF. She has also been a member of the Defense Sciences Study Group, a member of the NRC panel on management of university intellectual property, and a member of the AAMC panel on research. She has served as Chair of the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and treasurer for the Biomedical Engineering Society. Her laboratory has received funding from NIH, NSF, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and DOD.