Jim Dunnigan, EdD 

Dr. Dunnigan is currently on the faculty at Arizona State University where he teaches EdD research courses in the Mary Lou Fulton School of Education.  He has over 25 years of experience as a K-12 teacher, administrator, and college instructor in both public and private institutions.  He is a member of the Artificial Intelligence Learning Futures Collaborative at ASU.  He has extensive knowledge of AI and how generative AI is impacting teaching and learning.  He holds a Doctorate in Education as well as a Master in Teaching degree.  He is the founding chair of the CPED AI CIG. 

Paula Cristina R. Azevedo, PhD  

Dr. Paula Cristina Azevedo is an assistant professor in the School of Education at Marymount University. She started her career as a high school social studies teacher in San José, California, and has nearly 20 years of experience in education. She teaches research courses in the Educational Leadership and Organizational Innovation EdD program and is a Lead Doctoral Faculty Mentor. She founded the EdD program’s Write Up! Institute, which provides online workshops on scholarly writing, research, writing sessions, and an annual writing retreat. In the age of GenAI, she is conducting research and supporting efforts to reenvision teacher education and doctoral coursework to meet the opportunities and challenges of evolving technology. She is also a member of the Carnegie Project for the Education Doctorate’s Artificial Intelligence CIG. 

Deanna Hill, PhD, JD 

Dr. Deanna Hill is an associate clinical professor and the director of the EdD program in the School of Education at Drexel University. Her background is in law, and she has more than 20 years of experience in education. She has been faculty at Drexel for nearly a decade and currently teaches leadership and research courses in the EdD program. She co-created and coordinates Drexel’s Alumni Mentoring and Coaching (MAC) program for first-year EdD students; co-facilitates bi-weekly writing retreats for EdD students in the dissertation stage; and co-created and co-hosts Drexel’s EdD IMPACT podcast featuring Drexel alumni. She has been co-leading (with Dr. Harriette Rasmussen) the EdD program’s exploration of generative AI in doctoral writing and research. She is also a member of the Carnegie Project for the Education Doctorate’s Artificial Intelligence CIG. 

Christine B. Valadez, EdD 

Dr. Chris Valadez brings 25 years of leadership experience in educational technology and eLearning. She serves as the Senior Vice President of Instructional Services at Keypath Education, where she collaborates with university faculty to design and develop online courses. In addition to her role at Keypath, Dr. Valadez is a Lead Doctoral Faculty Mentor and adjunct professor in Marymount University's EdD program, teaching courses on technology and innovation as well as research methodology. She earned her Doctor of Education from Marymount University, an MEd in Educational Technology from Northern Illinois University, and a BA from Northwestern University. Dr. Valadez’s research focuses on educational technology, online learning, and generative AI, and she is an active member of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate’s AI CIG. 

Nicholas R. Werse, PhD 

Dr. Nicholas R. Werse serves as the Senior Director of Operations for the Baylor University Online Learning unit and Associate Graduate Faculty in the award-winning Baylor University EdD in Learning and Organizational Change program where he combines his passion for student support with his love for interdisciplinary research. Dr. Werse is both a practitioner and mentor of interdisciplinary research, publishing in the fields of environmental humanities, educational technology, and religion. He holds Affiliate Faculty appointments in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and the Environmental Humanities program. 

Joshua Caleb Smith, PhD 

Joshua Caleb Smith is an Associate Graduate Faculty member and the Assistant Director of the Research and Writing Development Center serving Baylor University’s Doctor of Education in Learning and Organizational Change. A religious historian by training, his work with the EdD has caused his research to become increasingly interdisciplinary. As a historian, he focuses on how early modern Europeans used their interpretation of the world around them as a tool to reinforce their confessional affiliations. As an educator, he thinks about how to integrate generative AI into doctoral education, how to improve graduate student writing, and how scholar-practitioner dissertations should be approached methodologically.