MS in Information Design & Strategy Faculty
Tanya Norwood, MBA, MS
Faculty Director
Contact Information
latanya-norwood@northwestern.edu
Tanya Norwood is the Chief Marketing & Membership Officer and Chief Diversity Officer at the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP). ASCP is the largest professional membership organization for pathologists and laboratory professionals. In her current role, Norwood is responsible for leveraging data to grow market share, drive incremental sales, and increase member acquisition and retention and overseeing the organization’s overall branding and value propositioning. Prior to ASCP, Norwood has worked several years in corporate where majority of that time was spent in retail. Most recently, she managed direct to consumer pharmacy campaigns for Walgreen Co. Norwood has a MS in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University and an MBA degree.
Lindsay Adams
Contact Information
LindsayAdams2020@u.northwestern.edu
Lindsay Adams currently serves as Chief Learning Officer and Co-Founder of Origin8cares, an insurtech startup. She is responsible for all learning and development of the company's workforce and thrives on helping employees reach their full potential. Previously, she was Director of Digital Sales Engineering at TIAA, a Fortune 100 company, where she orchestrated global teams to cultivate client relationships through technology demonstrations, storytelling, and data visualization. With 25 years of experience in IT and financial services, Lindsay has been a pioneer in the design and development of digital experiences, always with an emphasis on audience empathy. She received her Bachelor's degree in Sociology and Geography at Florida State University. She earned her Master's degree in Information Design & Strategy from Northwestern University with a specialization in Learning Design.
Ignatius Valentine Aloysius
Contact Information
ignatius.aloysius@northwestern.edu
Ignatius Valentine Aloysius was born in India and is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He earned his MFA in Creative Writing from Northwestern University, where he won the distinguished thesis award for fiction. He is a lecturer in writing at Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. He has written for Triquarterly, Newcity, Third Coast Review, The Extraordinary Project, La Tolteca Zine, The Rumpus and others, and he is the author of the novel Fishhead. Republic of Want (Tortoise Books, 2020), as well, The Imaginal Stage, a doom/sludge metal album by WOOND, his studio project on Mental Illness Recordings, Iowa City (woond.bandcamp.com). Ignatius was selected as a 2020-21 Creative Writing Fellow by the Ludington Writers Board and the Ludington Area Center for the Arts in Michigan. He is co-curator of Sunday Salon Chicago, a literary reading event series, now in its 15th year. Ignatius serves as a judge for the Evanston Arts Council's Cultural Fund Grants Application program, and he has served as a juror for the National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards in NYC (The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers). He sits on the curatorial board at Ragdale Foundation, an arts and writing residency in Lake Forest, Illinois, and is also a board member for its Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion Taskforce (DEAI). Ignatius lives with his wife in Evanston, Illinois, where he is working on his second novel. You can learn more about him at www.ignatiusaloysius.com
Jessica Ashley
Contact Information
jessica.ashley@northwestern.edu
Jessica Ashley is a content strategist, award-winning author, and certified coach.
She earned a BA in Journalism from Truman State University and an MA in Women Studies and Speech Communication from Oregon State University. Jessica’s thesis examines the heirlooms matriarchs pass down to their daughters, and the oral history these possessions preserve, and was the first-ever documentary accepted as a thesis into the school library. She served as an instructor of women studies at Oregon State University and gender studies at Western Oregon University. Jessica launched a national feminist zine when that was a radical act of communication, was a founding editor at Yahoo's first women's site, contributed to many major digital publications from Forbes to Scary Mommy, appeared as a guest expert on morning shows across the country, and served as a panelist on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday Life Class on single motherhood.
Jessica is the founder and voice of Single Mom Nation online community and its sister podcast, and helps women thrive through transition at Divorce Coach for Moms. She is the author of three independent divorce and self-care guides, and a forthcoming publication with Rockridge Press. She responds to both Jessica and Ashley.
Kevin Budelmann
Contact Information
kevin.budelmann@northwestern.edu
Kevin Budelmann is interested in strategic design for business, education, healthcare, and society. Kevin is president and co-founder of Peopledesign, a strategy and human-centered design firm based in Michigan. Besides serving as an advisor to clients, Kevin is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University and is the former global president of IxDA, the Interaction Design Association. He holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and the IIT Institute of Design. Kevin's book, "Brand Identity Essentials," is available in six languages and a second edition.
Michael Callero
Contact Information
Michael Callero has developed consumer research and insights throughout his career. He is currently the Founder of Big Blue Crayon, where he trains organizations to transform their insights into business influence. Most recently, he was the Vice President of Consumer Insights at Allina Healthcare, a Minneapolis health system, where he launched one of the first consumer insights functions of its kind in healthcare. He has been the head of consumer research for Walgreens and a research leader at Best Buy and other organizations. Early in his career, he learned the power of determining consumers’needs and translating them into great business decisions. Mike’s consumer curiosity sprang from the particular fabric of his educational background. He received bachelor’s degrees in both Advertising and Psychology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He earned his master’s degree in Market Research from Southern Illinois University. He is based in Minneapolis.
Kelly Cutler
Contact Information
Phone: 847-467-2371
Kelly Cutler is an Educator and Business Leader. She brings over two decades of experience to her current role at Northwestern University, where she teaches at Medill, Kellogg and SPS. Kelly has been teaching in the areas of technology, marketing, and communication for nearly 15 years and continues to offer her expertise to professional, graduate, executive and undergraduate students at Northwestern University. In addition to her love of higher education, Kelly is a seasoned entrepreneur and technology executive with a background in digital marketing and technology solutions. Kelly is proud to hold a master's degree from the Information Design and Strategy program in Northwestern's School of Professional Studies. In her free time, Kelly enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors with her family.
Michael Dain
Contact Information
@michaeldain
Michael Dain has been a leader in the field of Human Computer Interaction for over 20 Years. He has led UX/UI design efforts for several major companies, and led teams delivering solutions within higher education, agency and advertising as well as consultation and thought leadership. His interests combine a deep appreciation for human behavior, design history and principles, and interaction patterns and innovations. His work has won Cannes Gold and Silver Lions, Addy and Marcom awards. He's still holds most of the 10 top results for his name in Google.
Adriano Galvao
adriano.galvao@northwestern.edu
Adriano Galvao combines qualitative and quantitative research methods to inform customer-driven innovation efforts and improve products and services. Adriano advises companies to enter new markets with products/services by supporting their strengths and expanding their potential ability to its full extent. Adriano frequently speaks at conference venues and is interested in helping organizations know more about innovation, their customers, businesses, products, services, and channel partners. A dual citizen of Brazil and the US, Adriano has lived and worked in Brazil, the United States, and Japan. He holds a bachelor's degree in Design (with a minor in Mechanical Engineering) from the University of Brasilia in Brazil, a Master's in Human-Centered Design, and a Ph.D. in Design Methods from the Institute of Design, IIT. Adriano's specialties include Qualitative & Quantitative Research Methods, Innovation Workshops, Design Thinking, User Experience Development, Foresight, Value Innovation Strategy, Scenario Planning, Product Management, Knowledge Management, and Marketing Strategy.
Rachel Goc
Contact Information
Rachel Goc (she/her) is a Learning Engineer on the Teaching and Learning Technologies team at Northwestern University. Before transitioning her pedagogical interests to focus on educational technology, she earned her Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research on how amateur music communities in Japan made community through Latin American popular music genres was supported by a Fulbright Dissertation Fellowship. In addition to over 8 years of experience working in information technology in higher education she has completed the Graduate Certificate in Learning Design from Northwestern’s School of Professional Studies.
Matt Grossman
Contact Information
matthew.grossman@northwestern.edu
Matt Grossman is Director of Design and Implementation at CultureVerse where he leverages XR technology in support of the makers and keepers of art and knowledge. His interest in the design of immersive experiences began with his work as Experience Manager then Manager of Customer Success at Saganworks, a tech-startup exploring innovative solutions for arraying and interacting with digital information in 3D environments. He's focused on the work of deeply understanding people, systems, and context, and translating that information into delightful human-centered experiences. Matt is also a freelance UX Strategist who earned a Master of Science in Information Design and Strategy (IDS), with a specialization in Content Strategy, from Northwestern's School of Professional Studies. Through the IDS program, Matt connected a decade of experience in visual communication and marketing with his passion for exploring information through structural, aesthetic, and social lenses. Previously, Matt earned a B.S. in Communication from Eastern Michigan University.
Randy Hlavac
Contact Information
Randy Hlavac is an expert in digital marketing and how to use consumer and business big data to define, target, and develop high value markets. Randy teaches Digital, Social and Mobile Marketing Strategies in the Medill IMC program, Marketing Analytics in the McCormick Engineering Management program and Social Media and Content Curation in the School of Professional Studies. Randy also works with The Garage and the Farley Entrepreneurial program to assist entrepreneurs to grow and position their brand using social and digital marketing. In addition to teaching, Randy is director of the OmniChannel Initiative – a joint venture with IBM to bring new business and marketing technologies into the college curriculum at Northwestern.
Randy also helped Northwestern develop Coursera online programs in Social Media Marketing and Content Strategy and Content Curation. These courses are offered worldwide and have students in over 150 countries. They are some of the largest online programs on marketing and content in the world.
Randy is CEO of Marketing Synergy, Inc. Founded in 1990, Marketing Synergy helps clients from start-ups to Fortune 100 to develop effective digital marketing strategies and deploy the marketing, customer service, and financial metrics systems to improve profits and grow market share.
Randy speaks at business, technical and marketing conventions around the world. He is a frequent speaker at IBM conferences on Big Data, Watson, and IoT. Randy is also the author of the book – Social IMC – Social Strategies with Bottom-Line ROI and will soon be publishing Prosper – Your Guide to Building Profitable Digital Marketing Programs. Randy is also a blogger on digital and social marketing technologies.
Reginald C. Jackson, Ed.D.
Contact Information
reginald.jackson@northwestern.edu
Reginald (Reggie) Jackson is currently Senior Learning Engineer at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism Integrated Marketing Communications Program and Northwestern IT’s Teaching & Learning Technologies department. In this role, he consults with faculty in the design and development of courses as well as the use of technology and teaching strategies. Prior to joining Northwestern, he was an Academic Technology Analyst at University of Chicago. Before coming to higher education, he held positions as a corporate trainer and instructional designer primarily in the banking industry. He also teaches for Roosevelt University's Graduate Program in Training and Development. Reggie holds a doctorate degree in Adult Education from National-Louis University, master’s degree from Roosevelt University in Instructional Design and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Loyola University.
Lauren Liss
Contact Information
lauren.johnson@northwestern.edu
Lauren Johnson is the Coordinator of the Interaction Design major and the User Experience and Web Development minors in the Interactive Arts and Media (IAM) Department at Columbia College Chicago, and has been a faculty member in this program since 2006. She received her Masters in Education, Learning Design and Leadership, New Learning, from the University of Illinois, where she studied knowledge acquisition and educational theory through the lens of usability and technology. She teaches interface design, interaction theory, user experience and usability, and collaborative development. She also runs an interaction design company, Goodspark, which focuses on content management systems and usability analysis for small businesses, with a specialization in women-owned businesses and creative
Reba-Anna Lee, Ed.D.
Assistant Dean of Distance Learning, Adjunct Lectuer
Contact Information
reba-anna.lee@northwestern.edu
Dr. Reba-Anna Lee received her doctorate in Educational Technology from Alliant International University. She completed her Master's and Bachelor's at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Before joining Northwestern, she was the Associate Director of Academic Technology and eLearning at Marist College. Her background includes 10+ years of K-12 experience and over 14+ of higher education administration and teaching experience.
Dr. Lee has experience working with faculty in implementing new technologies in their classroom, whether face-to-face, blended, or completely online. She is also a certified Master reviewer with Quality Matters and is skilled in training faculty on Quality Matters guidelines.
Dr. Lee's research interests span the building of online environments, faculty professional development, and innovative technology use in the classroom.
Vanessa Lewin
Contact Information
vanessa.lewin@northwestern.edu
Vanessa Lewin is a versatile and engaging marketing leader with 20 years of experience influencing organizational and revenue growth for both healthcare sector firms and professional associations. Her expertise lies in leading and managing complex projects and campaigns, from initial strategy through execution and analysis.
A natural leader and communicator, Vanessa is known for the ability to bridge the gap between cross-functional (creative and technical) teams and individuals and excels in getting people with varying backgrounds, priorities, communication styles and personalities together and motivating them to work collaboratively toward common goals. Trained in professional improv, she is a confident, articulate presenter and spokesperson and jumps at every opportunity to speak in front of groups, whether that's customers, fellow team members or in one-on-one settings. Vanessa has the unique ability to clearly communicate in a very inclusive, professional, and diplomatic way.
Specific areas of expertise include: team leadership, marketing communications, healthcare marketing, project management, strategic planning & analysis, market research, product launch and volunteer/member relations.
Roger McMinn
Contact Information
rogermcminn2017@u.northwestern.edu
Roger McMinn is an Adjunct Lecturer in Northwestern’s IDS program and a Vice President of Marketing for BNY Mellon. McMinn has worked in marketing and communications for more than 25 years for well-known companies like Vanguard, Nuveen, and Nationwide. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Penn State University and an MBA in Marketing from Drexel University. McMinn is also a graduate of the Northwestern IDS program, and has previously taught IDS 403: Effective Communication. McMinn lives outside of Philadelphia, PA, with his wife, three kids, and two dogs.
David S. Noffs
Adjunct Lecturer, Learning Designer
Contact Information
Dr. Noffs has spent most of his life designing innovative learning environments, from his early work with hi-tech mobile classrooms in Australia's rural communities, and throughout the world, to over fifteen years as an instructional technologist, designer, and learning management system administrator in the Center for Innovation in Teaching Excellence at Columbia College Chicago. He currently works as a Learning Designer, Faculty Developer, and Lecturer at Northwestern's School of Professional Studies. Planning and designing transformative learning experiences has become his life's work.
Dr. Noffs is an author, researcher, and frequent presenter at National Conferences. His doctoral dissertation in Adult and Continuing Education from National Louis University is entitled, Resonating Frequencies of a Virtual Learning Community: An Ethnographic Case Study of Online Faculty Development at Columbia College Chicago.
Kyle Pipkins
Contact Information
Kyle Pipkins is an Adjunct Instructor for the Northwestern School of Professional Studies. He's spent over ten years working across data science, design, and communications disciplines. As a seasoned business intelligence and information design professional, Kyle has led product development teams, advised executives on data strategy, developed analytical programs, and modernized numerous federal programs to better leverage data. Kyle holds a Master of Science in Information Design & Strategy (IDS) from Northwestern and a Data Science certification from Johns Hopkins University. In his spare time, Kyle enjoys kayak fishing, reading, and hanging out with friends and family.
Chris Rinere
Contact Information
Chris Rinere has been working in the design, organizational management, and learning development space for 12 years. He is a recognized expert in learning development and talent strategy, user-centered design, product management, change initiatives, and data analytics. Chris has successfully created the learning development function within different organizations and utilized metrics and data as the key driver behind the design, business, and strategic decisions within the organization.
His leadership styles are transformative, strategic, and coach.
Currently, Chris works within the People team for ResMed Corporation focusing on development, strategy, and learning efforts across the organization including the areas of data analytics; user privacy; diversity, inclusion, and equity; leadership development; psychological safety; change management; and, operational effectiveness.
Chris also is an elected Executive Board Member for the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association Executive Board as a Vice President of Operations, where he leads operational effectiveness, strategy, learning, and design efforts for the organization.
Rinere is a 2017 graduate of the Information Design and Strategy (IDS) program at Northwestern University with an emphasis in Data Science and Analytics and holds a dual-Bachelor's Degree in Adolescent Education and English Literature from the State University of New York at Geneseo.
Russ Roberson
Contact Information
russell.roberson@northwestern.edu
Russ Roberson is the VP of Quality, Regulatory, Patient Safety, and Data Governance for a global medical device company. Russ has responsibility for a portfolio of healthcare products in the medical device area. He is a frequent speaker at global conferences on such topics as design processes, employee development, and strategic management and has published in each of these areas. A licensed professional engineer, Russ also holds professional certifications in engineering, quality, auditing, and management. Russ has a doctorate in Business Administration and Management, an MBA degree, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, and a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering.
Alicia Warren Hossein
Contact Information
alicia.warrenhossein@northwestern.edu
Alicia Warren Hossein is Director of IT Products Design Team at Rippling, a product that manages employee data end-to-end to free up smart people to work on hard problems. Alicia has worked as a designer and leader across industry, including higher education, academia, insurance, pharmacy, ecommerce, and FinTech, and has lived in Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. She runs the Ladies that UX - Chicago meetup group, where industry experts convene on topics ranging across experience pillars, including accessibility, ethics, cognitive biases and emotional intelligence. She received her Masters Degree in Publishing Studies from City University London and her Bachelors in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Samantha Zarrini
Contact Information
samanthazarrini2020@u.northwestern.edu
Samantha is a Director of HR & Learning Systems at Visa. She is a passionate and creative UX evangelist with 10 years of experience discovering, understanding, and transforming employee experiences within the digital HR ecosystem. She has been focused on leading the application of UX research methodologies to envision, strategize, and build data driven learning products with employees at the center of the design. Her strength is in leading product management and design of learning experience platforms. Samantha is fascinated by human interaction with products and experiences and is adamant about leveraging data to design products that improve employee experience, retain talent, increase productivity and drive business outcomes.
Samantha is a graduate of Northwestern University with a Master's in Information, Design and Strategy. Samantha received her bachelor's in Law and Society from American University in Washington, D.C. She is fluent in Spanish and Arabic.