Christen Arbogast currently serves an Assistant Headmaster at Archway Trivium. Ms. Arbogast has served at Great Hearts since 2013 in a variety of roles, including teacher, team lead, Dean of Curriculum, Dean of Faculty, and the Network ELA coach. She holds a Bachelor degree in the Humanities and a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She has two wonderful children who both attend a Great Hearts school.

Dr. Toyin Atolagbe serves as Executive Director of Great Hearts Christos, a private Christian classical school with campuses in Phoenix and Gilbert, Arizona. With over two decades of experience in education, as a teacher, administrator, and founder, she has shaped learning communities across continents. Previously, she led Archway Lincoln as Headmaster and was a founding faculty member at Archway Arete and Archway Trivium. She is also the co-founder of Agape International School in Ilorin, Nigeria, which offers free classical education to underserved communities. She is the founder of Lighthouse Parenting Hub, a partnership that equips parents through public speaking, training, coaching, and curated resources to foster flourishing families.

Dr. Atolagbe earned her Doctor of Education from Grand Canyon University, a Master of Education from the University of Lethbridge, and a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature from the University of Ilorin. A devoted Christian, Dr. Atolagbe’s leadership is grounded in faith, service, and the transformative power of education. She is an active member of the Rotary Club of Gilbert and finds joy in worship, community outreach, and nurturing her family.

Michael Austin graduated from Thomas Aquinas College in 2002 and pursued further studies in Philosophy from the University of Dallas, where he received his master's degree. He currently serves Great Hearts Academies as Director of Curriculum for the Upper School. Prior to this, he served for many years at Veritas Preparatory Academy as teacher and administrator. He has a wide love for the whole of the Great Hearts Curriculum, from the study of Shakespeare's Sonnets in Grade 6 to the proof of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus in Grade 12.

Susan McWilliams Barndt is Professor of Politics at Pomona College and the William F. Podlich Distnguished Fellow in Government at Claremont McKenna College. She serves as the elected president of the American Political Thought section of the American Political Science Association.

McWilliams is the author of The American Road Trip and American Political Thought (2018) and Traveling Back: Toward a Global Political Theory (2014). She is also the editor of A Political Companion to James Baldwin (2017) and a co-editor of several books, including The Best Kind of College: An Insiders Guide to America's Small Liberal Arts Colleges (2015) and The Princeton History of American Political Thought (forthcoming).

McWilliams is the co-editor of the American Political Thought book series at the University Press of Kansas and a past editor of the peer-reviewed journal American Political Thought. Her writing has appeared in both scholarly and popular journals, and she is a regular media commentator on American politics for outlets such as The Atlantic, Business Insider, KPCC's AirTalk, LiveNOW From FOX, The Los Angeles Times, Ms. Magazine, The Nation, The New York Times, Newsweek, Pacifica Radio, Politico, the Tavis Smiley Show, and Today in LA on KNBC.

For her work, McWilliams has received accolades including the Graves Award in the Humanities, a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship and the Jack Miller Center's Teaching Excellence Award in Higher Education. 

McWilliams holds a B.A. in political science and Russian from Amherst College, an M.A. and Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University, and a Certificate in Advanced Education from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education"

Sir Jonathan Bate is Regents Professor of Literature and Foundation Professor of Environmental Humanities at Arizona State University and a Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University, where he was formerly Provost of Worcester College. He is the author of twenty books, including The Genius of Shakespeare; Soul of the Age: A Biography of the Mind of William Shakespeare; and, most recently, Mad about Shakespeare: Life Lessons from the Bard. He has been on the Board of the Royal Shakespeare Company and edited their edition of the Complete Works. Being Shakespeare, his one-man play for Simon Callow, premiered at the Edinburgh Festival toured the United Kingdom, had three runs in London’s West End, and played in New York, Chicago and Trieste.

Derrell Bradford is the president of 50CAN: The 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now. In his role, Derrell leads 50CAN’s SPARK work, and trains and recruits local leaders across the country to serve as executive directors of state CANs, advocacy fellows, and citizen advocates. He also leads the National Voices fellowship which focuses on education policy, media, and political collaboration.

Derrell frequently contributes to education debates in print, digital, radio, and TV media. He serves on several boards dedicated to putting the needs of students and families first, including Success Academy Charter Schools, yes. every kid., the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the advisory boards of the Alliance for Catholic Education at Notre Dame and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, the PIE Network, and was the founding board chair of EdBuild. A native of Baltimore, Derrell attended the St. Paul’s School for Boys and received a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania.

Andrew D. Carico is Coordinator for the American Classical Lyceum at John Adams Academy, where he previously served as Headmaster of their El Dorado Hills campus between 2021-2024. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Claremont Graduate University, focusing on political philosophy, constitutional law, and American politics. Prior to joining John Adams Academy, he was an Associate Professor at William Jessup University. He has written for various online and print publications, such as Public Discourse, Law & Liberty, the Claremont Review of Books, RealClear Education, American Reformer, WORLD Opinions, The American Mind, and Starting Points Journal, amongst others.

Alison Chaney has served Great Hearts for 17 years in a variety of leadership and instructional roles. She began as a founding teacher at Scottsdale Prep, later served as a network instructional coach and Master Teacher, and went on to lead Scottsdale Prep as Headmaster for eight years. She now serves as Senior Director of Talent, where she oversees key aspects of talent acquisition for the network, including leadership recruiting and recruitment marketing. Alison holds degrees from The Ohio State University and Baylor University. A classically trained singer, she performed for 15 seasons with the Grammy Award winning Phoenix Chorale, where she now serves on the board.

Albert Cheng is an Associate Professor at the Department of Education Reform in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas, where he teaches courses in education policy and philosophy. He is the director of the Classical Education Research Lab, a research initiative that seeks to empirically evaluate the effectiveness of classical education. He is a Senior Fellow at Cardus and serves on the governing board of Anthem Classical Academy in Fayetteville, AR. He taught high school math at James Logan High School in Union City, California after completing his undergraduate studies in pure mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2006. He later returned to school, receiving a master's degree in education from Biola University in 2012 and his PhD in education policy from the University of Arkansas in 2016.

Mary Chin (M.Ed., Arizona State University, M.Eng. M.I.T.) is a Professional Development Associate for Great Hearts working to support PD and instructional coaching throughout the network. Prior to this role, Mary was a Master Teacher in mathematics and an instructional coach. She also developed and ran PD and served on the Academic Leadership Team on her campus. She believes in instructional coaching because the autonomy it provides to teachers while also helping to improve learning outcomes through addressing behaviors and beliefs. Outside of education, Mary is passionate about ice hockey: playing in women's tournaments in the Southwest and coaching her children's youth teams in Gilbert, AZ.

Marisa Cook is in her 10th year working for Great Hearts in San Antonio, TX.  She started in 2016 as an Apprentice Teacher in 2nd grade.  She was promoted to 2nd Grade Lead Teacher in 2017 working for Great Hearts Northern Oaks.  After three years, she transferred to Great Hearts Forest Heights to become the 2nd Grade Team Lead and founding faculty member.  After 7 years of teaching 2nd grade, she was promoted to Dean of Teachers.  In this capacity, Marisa has focused on training and coaching faculty, developing new teachers, and implementing the school's first Lead Teacher Training Program, where she develops apprentice teachers who aspire to become lead teachers.  Prior to teaching, she spent 2 years coaching college volleyball and 15 years coaching club volleyball. An avid volleyball player, Marisa played D1 at UMBC in Baltimore, Maryland.  She was inducted to her high school's Hall of Fame in May 2025 for her achievements in Volleyball.  Marisa and her husband Levi are the proud parents of two kids, Nora and Whitson, who attend Great Hearts Forest Heights.  Nora is in 6th grade and will be part of the school's first K-12 graduating class and Whitson is in 2nd grade. Outside of school, Marisa and Levi are very active in their children's sports, both coaching and being spectators. Her daughter is a synchronized swimmer and her son plays football.

Eric Cook is the President and CEO of the Society for Classical Learning (SCL), an organization dedicated to fostering human flourishing through the advancement of classical Christian education. He provides executive leadership for SCL, overseeing the organization’s vision, strategy, thought leadership, and fundraising efforts. As President and CEO, Eric plays a pivotal role in the classical Christian school movement, seeking to revive timeless principles to reform education, renew culture, and promote human flourishing. 

I am a life longer learner with bachelor degrees from ASU in Latin and English as well as a Masters in Secondary Education from GCU. I am passionate about teaching Latin as a living language so students can experience Latin as a language as opposed to a puzzle. I enjoy long walks on the beach and reading Shakespeare's Julius Caesar by candle light.

Jeannette DeCelles-Zwerneman is Director of Instruction and one of our Master Teachers, specializing in teaching writing and leading seminars on imaginative literature and philosophy. For 44 years she has taught and consulted in schools with an emphasis on classic humanities. In 1981 she co-founded Trinity School at Greenlawn in South Bend, Indiana, where she taught until 1997. From 1999 to 2016 she taught at Trinity School's campus in Virginia. She served as Dean of Humanities for the national group of Trinity Schools and as a master teacher for all three campuses of the organization. As part of The Academy Project LLC, she co-authored the original curricula and helped train faculties for Thomas MacLaren School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Trinity Academy in Portland, Oregon. Twice she received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, one for the study of Plato, Kant, and Hegel, another for the study of Dante's Divina Commedia. Education: B.A., M.A., University of Notre Dame.

Lisa Ann Dillon a dedicated educator and passionate speaker, has spent over 25 years in the elementary classroom teaching grades K - 4.  When it was time for her own children to go to school, she dove into the hybrid program where she was teaching at SLO Classical Academy to be a part-time homeschool mom, while also teaching in the classroom.  Now her kids are grown, and four years ago, due to a desire to pass on what she has learned over the years, she stepped into a more formal leadership role as the Director of the Lower School (grades K-8).   Previously a theater major, she brings a dramatic flair, whether she is working with young students or adults.  Early on in her career, earning a multi-subject teaching credential while she was already in the classroom, Lisa Ann knew what it was like to work on many things at once. Her hands-on approach to learning, whether it be to memorize a poem or learn a mathematical concept, is inspired by her observations of the best educators.  Lisa Ann is highly supportive of teachers, recognizing that the teaching life is a craft, something we embody much more than most other careers.   A learn-by-doing thinker, Lisa Ann knows that the best way to take something away from a session is to have a chance to give it a try first.

Guillermo Dillon is the Senior Consultant for Polis Method Implementation in North America and one of the main instructors at the annual Teaching Through Immersion Conference. He has taught Latin through the communicative method for over seven years. Guillermo holds a B.A. in Classics from Trinity College Dublin and an M.A. in Classics from the University of Kentucky (where he studied spoken Latin at the Institutum Studiis Latinis Provehendis). He is the co-author of the Teacher's Guide for the latest Latin book published by the Polis Institute Press, Unus, Duo, Tres. Latine Loquamur Per Scaenas et Imagines. Guillermo is currently pursuing an M.B.A. at Texas A&M University.

Bernard J. (B.J.) Dobski is a Professor of Political Science at Assumption University in Worcester, MA where, for the past two decades, he has taught courses on politics and literature, political philosophy, and international relations. He has published numerous articles, essays, chapters, book reviews, and edited volumes on the political wisdom of Thucydides, Xenophon, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, and American foreign policy. Last year he published Mark Twain's Joan of Arc: Political Wisdom, Divine Justice, and the Origins of Modernity (Palgrave Macmillan) and is currently a Visiting Professor at ASU/SCETL for the 25-26 academic year.

Tom Doebler has worked with and for students with exceptionalities for over two decades, driven by a conviction that public education can be transformed to recognize the humanity of every child. 17 of those years has been with Great Hearts Academies, where he has shared in the work of building a large and robust program of Exceptional Student Services that aligns with the heart of classical education and our mission to provide access to this ennobling experience to any family that wants it for their child.

A native of Oregon, Tom lives in Phoenix with his wife Angelika and his two children, Vera (6) and Rowan (4).

Joshua Dunn serves as Executive Director of the Institute of American Civics at the Howard H. Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs. His research and teaching focus on constitutional law and history, education policy, federalism, and freedom of speech and religion. His books include Complex Justice: The Case of Missouri v. Jenkins (University of North Carolina Press), From Schoolhouse to Courthouse: The Judiciary’s Role in American Education (Brookings Institution Press), and Passing on the Right: Conservative Professors in the Progressive University (Oxford University Press). He writes a quarterly article on law and education for the journal Education Next and his research and commentary have been featured in outlets such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Los Angeles Times. 

Previously he was the executive director of the Center for the Study of Government and the Individual at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Dunn was also a professor and chair of their department of political science. He was also a fellow in contemporary history, public policy, and American politics at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia and a visiting professor in the Department of Government at the College of William & Mary where he began his teaching career.

Jared Dybzinski has been an English teacher at Liberty Common School in Fort Collins, Colorado, for twenty years. He also enjoys serving his amazing colleagues as the head of the English department. He studied applied linguistics as an undergraduate at Moody Bible Institute and earned a masters degree in humanities, with a concentration in classical education, through the University of Dallas. His main class at LCHS is American Literature. Mr. Dybzinski has been married to his wonderful wife Natalie for nineteen years. They love raising their four daughters and one son. Mr. Dybzinski enjoys most anything outdoors, but especially fly fishing and golf. He enjoys worshiping the Holy Trinity and coming under great works as a means to that great End.

For over twenty-five years, Carrie Eben has championed classical education in both the private school classroom and homeschool arenas. She currently serves as founding board member at Sager Classical Academy in Siloam Springs, AR and is a Head Mentor for the CiRCE Institute Master Teacher Apprenticeship for the Ozark Mountain region. As a consultant, she develops and delivers customized workshops and mentorship for administrators, teachers, and parents in both classical school and homeschool settings (www.classicaleben.com). Carrie holds a BSE in Intermediate Education, a MSEd in Curriculum and Instruction from Oklahoma State University and is currently a PhD (abd) candidate in the Great Books Humanities program at Faulkner University. She is co-author of The Good Teacher: Ten Pedagogical Principles That Will Transform Your Teaching with Dr. Christopher Perrin. She loves to sing, read, ride, and provide a hospitable place for transformative conversations in her home.

Robert C. Enlow is the President and CEO of EdChoice. Before the formation of EdChoice in 2016, Robert was an integral part of the Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice from its launch in 1996. He served as fundraiser, projects coordinator, vice president and executive director prior to being named president and CEO of the Foundation in 2009. Under his leadership, EdChoice has become one of the nation’s most respected and successful advocates for educational choice, working in dozens of states to advance parental freedom in education by disseminating research, undertaking training, sponsoring seminars, conducting advertising campaigns and investing in and organizing community leaders. Robert has authored numerous articles, book chapters and op-eds that have appeared in journals, books and papers across the country. He is also the co-editor of Liberty and Learning: Milton Friedman’s Voucher Idea at Fifty.

I have had the pleasure of working for Great Hearts for the past 14 years and have enjoyed instructing and supporting our amazing scholars and staff. I started out teaching and serving the ESS, 504, and EL population at Archway Chandler and then moved into an ESS Specialist role for the Phoenix Home Office supporting the east valley schools. Now, I support all of our Arizona EL Teachers and Coordinators in building and maintaining their EL departments. My passion for English Language Learners started as a child when I moved abroad and couldn't communicate with my peers or members of the community. My teachers helped me to learn the language, and it was because of their hard work and commitment, that I not only learned the language but was able to thrive in school. Now, my focus is to pass that same commitment into our great work so that the EL students we have today can engage and contribute in their school and community and thrive on their own path to success.

Anthony Fredette is a teacher of Latin and Greek as living languages, as well as a scholar of classical reception. Both activities center on premodern methods of teaching the works of great authors in the language in which they were originally composed.

Raphael Gang is committed to transforming education by investing in the infrastructure that empowers families, educators, and entrepreneurs to create impactful learning experiences. In his role as Program Officer at the Stand Together Trust (STT), he supports the development of a dynamic education ecosystem through initiatives such as loan funds, alternative accreditation pathways, and policy reforms that reduce barriers for new models to emerge and succeed.

Prior to joining STT, Raphael worked at 4.0 Schools, a national incubator for early-stage education ventures, where he led the development of alumni programming for fellowship graduates, built partnerships to support founders piloting new school, program, and service models, and recruited cohorts of fellows to explore bold ideas in education.

Earlier in his career, he helped launch and implement Louisiana’s statewide school voucher program, oversaw charter school authorization and accountability, and shaped policy to expand educational choice at the Louisiana Department of Education. A former elementary school teacher, he has also held leadership roles in two school networks.

Raphael is currently focused on creating the financial, regulatory, and relational conditions that make it possible for education innovators to design and launch transformative learning opportunities for all children. As a father of two young children, Raphael believes strongly that if we want a future of learning that is for all children, we need to build it.

Zachary German is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of American Civics, part of the Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His research focuses primarily on American political and constitutional thought, along with early modern thought, regarding questions of statesmanship, political culture and civic character, civic education, politics and religion, and constitutional design. His research projects, published or in progress, include work on Montesquieu, Adam Smith, James Madison, the American Founding more generally, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, C.S. Lewis, the Hamilton musical, constitutional humility, and localism. 

German teaches courses on political thought, constitutionalism, and leadership, with an emphasis on American civic life. He has also contributed to and participated in a number of K-12 civic education efforts, including teacher workshops and high-school summer learning experiences. 

Prior to joining the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, German was an Assistant Professor in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. He received his B.A. in Political Science from Lee University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame.

Mandi is a former K-12 teacher in a collaborative model classical Christian school who lives in Dallas, Texas. She also served as the Dean of Academics at Great Hearts Irving Lower School. Currently, Mandi works as the Administrative Director of the Cowan Center at the University of Dallas. She holds a master of humanities degree from the University of Dallas with a concentration in classical education. For over twenty years, she and her husband have labored to build a family culture for their five children that values books, baseball, museums, home-cooked meals, and conversation about ideas. Her first book, Thoroughness & Charm, is available from CiRCE Press.

Neil Gillingham is a classical education leader with over two decades of experience in K-12 instruction, school leadership, and organizational strategy. He currently serves as the Senior Director of Academics for Great Hearts Arizona, where he oversees curriculum implementation, instructional coaching, and student achievement across 24 academies. Previously, Neil served as Senior Director of Online and Special Projects, leading the successful transition of Great Hearts Online from a state-chartered K-12 school to a national private academy. As the founding Headmaster of Archway Classical Academy | Arete, he spent a decade building a thriving classical liberal arts community in Gilbert, Arizona. Neil holds a bachelor's degree in visual art, a master's degree in elementary education, and is a NAATE School Leaders Fellow.

Ana González serves as the Family and Student Academic Success Coordinator at Great Hearts Live Oak, where she has played a pivotal role in helping the school become a Title I campus. She has worked in the field of education for over 20 years and holds a Master’s degree in Family and Marriage Counseling.

With a deep commitment to educational equity, Ana strives to ensure that every student—regardless of background or economic circumstance—has access to the full richness of a classical education. Her leadership is defined by a dedication to building a culture of equality and belonging. Through authentic family partnerships, she has helped create systems that honor the dignity of every child and empower parents as essential partners in student success.

Guided by her current studies in Philosophy  and influenced by the Spanish philosopher Leonardo Polo, Ana embraces the understanding that a person grows as they learn and, through learning, becomes who they are meant to be. This belief shapes her conviction that every child deserves the opportunity to receive a classical education—not as a privilege, but as a human right rooted in their very being.

Ana lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband and their five children.

John J. Goyette is vice president for advancement and dean emeritus at Thomas Aquinas College, which offers a four-year liberal arts program focusing on the study of the great books of western civilization in small Socratic seminars at its campuses in California and New England. Goyette, who has a Ph.D. in philosophy from the Catholic University of America, has taught for 23 years at the California campus of the College and has also served in various administrative capacities including Dean of the College. He edited St. Thomas Aquinas and the Natural Law Tradition (CUA Press, 2004) and has published articles on natural law and the political common good in the work of St. Thomas Aquinas. He has also written and lectured on the natural philosophy of Aristotle and Aquinas, the Trinitarian theology of Aquinas, and on John Henry Newman's Idea of a University. As dean he helped develop the College's plagiarism policy prohibiting the use of AI for writing term papers. He recently published an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on artificial intelligence and education.

Dr. Jonathan Gregg has a B.A. in Mathematics and English from Hillsdale College, an M.A. in Humanities from the University of Chicago, and a PhD in Mathematics Education from Michigan State University. For the past eleven years, he has taught in the Mathematics and Education departments at Hillsdale College, and he was recently given the Emily Daugherty Award for Teaching Excellence in the fall of 2024. Previously, he served as the Assistant Director of the Barney Charter School Initiative, and before that, he taught middle and high school mathematics in the Great Hearts charter school system. His most recent publication was the Archimedes Standards, a set of PreK-12 mathematics standards to replace the Common Core. He lives in Hillsdale with his wife, Casey, and their four children, Eliana (9), Simeon (6), Mattia (3), and Carinna (1).

Olivia Eve Gross is the Founder and CEO of High School Law Review, a civics education program that uses constitutional law to teach students how to engage constructively, write persuasively, and disagree agreeably. Through legal writing, debate, and publication, students develop critical thinking and civic leadership skills. All student work is published on HSLR’s digital platform, with top submissions featured in local, state, and national law reviews.

Olivia holds a B.A. with honors from the University of Chicago, where she studied Fundamentals: Issues and Texts, a great books curriculum centered on enduring questions. Her academic work focused on Plato’s Gorgias and the question, “How do we agreeably disagree?” She also holds an M.A. in International Relations, with a concentration on the commodification of social norms. Olivia is a published author on issues related to academic freedom, free speech, and how environments can be created to foster agreeable disagreement.

Until his retirement in 2015 Vigen Guroian held an endowed position as Professor of Religious Studies in Orthodox Christianity at the University of Virginia. He was the recipient of the University of Virginia Student Council Distinguished Teaching Award for 2010-2011.  Presently, Dr. Guroian offers online courses  as a faculty member of Memoria College. He is the author of eleven books. Among these are "Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination," "Rallying the Really Human Things: The Cultural Importance of the Moral Imagination in Literature, Politics, and Everyday Life," and "The Orthodox Reality: Culture, Theology, and Ethics in the Modern World." He has served over the years on many consultations concerned with the intersection of religion and culture And he has contributed over 200 articles to journals, magazines, books, encyclopedias, and newspapers on a wide range of subjects including  theology, culture, literature, ethics, liturgy, marriage and family, and the spirituality of gardening.

Dr. Guroian’s "Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken A Child’s Moral Imagination," in its 2nd edition, has become a reading staple in the worlds of homeschooling and classical education.  Dr. Guroian has lectured and held workshops throughout the country on children's literature and the moral imagination. In recognition of his contribution to the teaching of character and virtue through literature, Dr. Guroian was awarded the CiRCE Institute’s Russell Kirk Paideia Prize for 2019.

Dr. Guroian is Senior Fellow of the Center on Law and Religion of Emory University, Permanent Senior Fellow of the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal,. Distinguished Fellow of the John Jay Institute and Senior Fellow of the Trinity Forum. 

Brenda Hafera is the Assistant Director and Research Fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies. She previously served as the Director of International and Continuing Education at The Fund for American Studies and the Assistant Director of the Matthew J. Ryan Center for the Study of Free Institutions and the Public Good at Villanova University.

Brenda holds a bachelor of arts in Political Science, a bachelor of science in Finance, and a master’s in Political Science from Villanova University. She was a Publius Fellow at the Claremont Institute and a James Madison Fellow at Hillsdale College. Her articles have appeared in publications such as Modern Age, The Federalist, Law and Liberty, The National Interest, RealClear Public Affairs, and The Hill.

Dr. Eric Ashley Hairston is Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities at Wake Forest University.  His research and scholarship focuses on Classica Africana, the classical tradition in African American intellectual life, as well as Classical Literature, American Literature, and intersections of Law and the Humanities. He is also the author of The Ebony Column: Classics, Civilization, and the African American Reclamation of the West.

Katherine Haley has more than 20 years of experience in public policy and philanthropy. Over the course of her career, she has established extensive networks across the country and expanded education opportunity, built coalitions to advance policies that improve school choice and workforce readiness, mobilized resources to strengthen civil society.

Before founding Oak Rose Group, Katherine served as the vice president of programs and senior director of K-12 programs at the Philanthropy Roundtable. She also spent 13 years working for members of Congress to advance policies that lead to human flourishing, including seven years advising former Speaker John Boehner on education, workforce, antipoverty, and global health issues.

In March 2022, Governor Doug Ducey appointed Katherine serve on the Arizona State Board of Education where she was elected as president in 2025. She also serves on the boards of 50CAN, Love Your School and The Trinity Forum, is a member of American Enterprise Institute’s Leadership Network and Conservative Education Reform Network, a member of the Pahara Institute’s 44th leadership cohort, and is an active supporter of Opportunity International and International Justice Mission.  

A native of Arizona, Katherine received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Duke University and her master’s degree in government from The Johns Hopkins University. Katherine lives in Scottsdale, Arizona and enjoys traveling, playing tennis, skiing, running, learning new things, and spending time with family and friends.

Larry Hampton is the founder and CEO of Satori Learning Designs, Inc. and the developer of the Satori Alternatives to Managing Aggression (SAMA) risk management of aggressive behavior training system.

He developed the Prevention and Management of Aggressive Behavior (PMAB) program for the state of Texas.

While with the state he was granted clinical privilege to practice individual and group counseling with Rational Emotive Therapy, Reality Therapy, Gestalt Therapy and Behavior Therapy.  He also has black belts in Judo and Aikido.

He has served as an expert witness in Federal and State court cases related to aggressive behavior interventions.

Helen was the founding headmaster of Chandler Preparatory Academy, a Great Hearts school that was consistently ranked among the top ten schools in the state of Arizona during her tenure. Later, as Vice President of Academies, she supervised headmasters and was responsible for the hiring process, headmaster evaluation, handling elevated issues of student discipline and parent concerns, and providing direct support to school leaders. During that time, she also oversaw the Great Hearts special education, college counseling, and co-curricular programs for the network of schools as well as data collection, analysis, and reporting. 

As Vice President of Leadership Development, Helen led leadership recruiting, selection, and professional development for over a decade at Great Hearts. In that capacity, she developed three programs for leadership cultivation: Headmaster College, Supervisor 101, and the Virtue Leadership Program (later rebranded as APEX).

In addition to her work with charter schools, Helen has also worked with private schools in Arizona, including the Christos schools (Great Hearts private schools) and St. Dominic Savio Academy (a school for individuals with autism). Helen has two children: a history teacher and a special needs young adult.

Helen is currently the Program Director for the Distinguished Innovation Fellows program at Arizona State University, a program that supports individuals over 60 who are interested in designing and launching innovative programs to serve their communities.

Joelle Hodge holds a BA in history/political science from Messiah University in Grantham, Pennsylvania, and a Masters of Arts in Teaching from Eastern University’s Templeton Honors College. She began her career as a staffer to United States Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa) before finding her professional home in the world of classical education in 1999. She has more than twenty years of classical education teaching experience. She has co-authored two logic books, The Art of Argument: An Introduction to the Informal Fallacies and The Discovery of Deduction: An Introduction to Formal Logic, both published by Classical Academic Press (CAP), and continues to support various editorial projects at CAP. Her primary focus is on supporting the growth and development of Classical Academic Press in her role as President.

Prior to her current President role, Joelle has also served CAP by helping to launch their online school, Scholé Academy, where she served as their Director for several years. In 2021, she was honored to become a Bluestocking in Residence through the Society For Women of Letters.

Jacob Howland served as Provost and Dean of the Intellectual Foundations Program at the University of Austin from 2022 to 2025. Before that, he was McFarlin Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tulsa, where he taught for 32 years. Howland is the author of Glaucon's Fate: History, Myth, and Character in Plato's Republic (2018); Plato and the Talmud (2011); Kierkegaard and Socrates: A Study in Philosophy and Faith (2006); The Paradox of Political Philosophy: Socrates Philosophic Trial (1998); and The Republic: The Odyssey of Philosophy (1993). His articles on literature, politics, and the academy have appeared in the Atlantic, The Free Press, The New Criterion, Commentary, Newsweek, the Claremont Review of Books, the Jewish Review of Books, City Journal, Mosaic, Tablet, the New York Post, UnHerd, Quillette, Forbes, and The Nation, among other venues.

J. Benjamin Hurlbut, PhD is Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. He is trained in science and technology studies (STS) and his research lies at the intersection of intersection of STS, bioethics and democratic theory. His work explores the relationships between science, politics and law in the governance of biomedical research and innovation, with particular attention to developments in biotechnology that raise fundamental questions of human integrity and dignity. He is Co-director of the Global Observatory on Genome Editing, an effort to develop new approaches to technology governance grounded in inclusive and far-reaching deliberation that draws upon a wide range of human knowledge, experience and moral imagination. He is the author of Experiments in Democracy: Human Embryo Research and the Politics of Bioethics (Columbia University Press, 2017) as well as numerous articles and book chapters. He is often called upon by the media to comment on issues relating to reproductive technology, genome editing, synthetic embryo research, and related areas. He holds an A.B. from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in the History of Science from Harvard University. He held a postdoctoral fellowship in the program on Science, Technology and Society at the Harvard  Kennedy School.

Nick is a theatre director, actor and lecturer. He has directed at Shakespeare's Globe, the Sam Wanamaker Theatre, Wilton's Music Hall, St James Theatre, Cheltenham Everyman, the Alde burgh Jubilee Hall, Folger Theatre in DC, Tmu-na Theatre in Tel Aviv, the McCoy Theater in Memphis and the American Shakespeare Center in Virginia. He is an Associate Drama Tutor at RADA, LAMDA and Shakespeare's Globe,

and has directed lectured and taught for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the Dublin Lir Academy, BADA, Mount view, Rhodes College, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Case Western Reserve University and the NYU.

As an actor he worked with the RSC, the National Theatre, the Globe Theatre, the BBC and ITV, and appeared in Miss Potter, 102 Dalmatians, and About A Boy. He lectures worldwide on Shakespeare, had a paper published in Shakespeare Bulletin in 2014, and contributed to How and Why We Teach Shakespeare (Routledge) and Why The Theatre? (Routledge).

David Jackson currently serves as the Founding Head of School at South Bay Classical Academy, a K-5 private classical school that will open its doors in August of 2026 in EL Segundo, California. Prior to this role, David served as the Head of School at Canterbury School, a Pk-12 independent day school in Fort Wayne, Indiana. At Canterbury, David successfully led the school through the Covid-19 pandemic, partnered with the Board of Trustees to forge a new strategic plan for the school, and raised nearly 20 million dollars toward Canterbury’s capital campaign: Maximizing the Future for Every Artist, Athlete, and Scholar. The campaign includes an 18,000 square foot Fine Arts Center (which opened in the Fall of 2024), along with 5 million dollars in endowment growth and upgrades to Canterbury’s athletic and stem facilities.

Before arriving at Canterbury, David spent eighteen years as an educator at Oak Hall School, a PK-12 day school in Gainesville, Florida. He began his career teaching Latin and over the course of his 23 plus years in education has taught all levels of Latin, as well as AP World History, AP European History, and AP Government & Politics. With the help of his wife Generosa, a Ph.D. in Classical Philology, David built one of the best secondary Latin programs in the country. Beyond his classroom experience at Oak Hall, David served as a World Language Department Chair, Upper School Head, Middle School Head, and Assistant Head of School. David and Generosa love residing in the South Bay of Los Angeles, where you can find them on a patio near the beach or at the dog park with their puppy, Artemis.

Ms. Jacobson is the National Senior Director of Professional Development at Great Hearts. She served as Headmaster at North Phoenix Prep from 2019 to 2024. Prior to that, Ms. Jacobson served as Head of Middle School, Assistant Headmaster, and Dean of Students in the Great Hearts network for eight years. She earned her Master's degree in Biology and a Bachelor's degree in Developmental and Cellular Biology. Additionally, Ms. Jacobson completed her Certificate in School Management and Leadership from Harvard Business School Online in March of 2022. Ms. Jacobson has two boys, a third grader, and a sixth grader, and enjoys spending time outdoors, gardening, and cooking with her family.

Junius Johnson is a writer, teacher, speaker, independent scholar, and musician. His work focuses on beauty, imagination, and wonder, and how these are at play in the Christian and Classical intellectual traditions. He is the executive director of Junius Johnson Academics, through which he offers innovative classes for both children and adults that aim to ignite student hearts with wonder and intellectual rigor. An avid devotee of story, he is especially drawn to fantasy, science fiction, and young adult fiction. He performs professionally on the french horn and electric bass. He holds a BA from Oral Roberts University (English Lit), an MAR from Yale Divinity School (Historical Theology), and an MA, two MPhils, and a PhD (Philosophical Theology) from Yale University. He is the author of 5 books, including The Father of Lights: A Theology of Beauty and On Teaching Fairy Stories, and has authored volumes and been a contributing writer for the Humanitas series of history textbooks with Classical Academic Press. An engaging speaker and teacher, he is a frequent guest contributor to blogs and podcasts on faith and culture. He is co-host of The Classical Mind podcast and the Director of Education for The Cultivating Project.

Alex Julian has spent the last fifteen years in education after receiving his bachelor's in Medieval History from Arizona State University. He has taught middle and high school students, leading Socratic seminar courses on great works in literature, philosophy, theology, and politics, spanning classical to modern periods. His leadership roles include dean of students, assistant headmaster, and headmaster at multiple classical schools, where he specialized in school turnaround. Alex has delivered professional development on classical education philosophy, pedagogy, and the Socratic method for K-12 schools and advised on curriculum development in history, literature, and philosophy.

Currently, he serves as a managing consultant at Arcadia Education, supporting Catholic, Christian, and charter schools in executive search and operations to foster lifelong learners and virtuous citizens. Alex resides in Phoenix, Arizona, with his wife, Katie, and their four children."

Jessica Kaminski, M.Ed. is an experienced educator, author, and international math consultant with over 16 years in education. She has supported thousands of teachers as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, and national trainer, specializing in Singapore's approach to mathematics. Early in her career, she discovered a passion for helping students build deep conceptual understanding and a love for problem-solving.

Jessica is the author of the Math in Focus 2020 Third Grade Teacher's Edition and co-author of the Primary Mathematics 2022 Grades 2-5 Teacher's Editions. Her work reflects a strong commitment to turning research-based strategies into meaningful classroom practice.

As founder of Math with Purpose, Jessica now delivers custom professional development to schools worldwide with a mission to raise confident teachers who create lasting learning. Through her extensive knowledge of working with neurodiverse students, Jessica equips educators to make math meaningful, engaging, and effective for every learner."

Joshua T. Katz is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on higher education, language and culture, the classical tradition, and the humanities broadly defined.  Previously, he was Cotsen Professor in the Humanities, Professor of Classics, a member (and sometime director) of the Program in Linguistics, and a faculty associate of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, where he taught from 1998 to 2022.

A founding member of the Academic Freedom Alliance, Katz was named a 2020 Hero of Intellectual Freedom by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, where he is now Scholar-in-Residence and a member of the Council of Scholars.  He won the Paul du Quenoy Prize in 2021, the Jeane Kirkpatrick Prize for Academic Freedom in 2023, and was one of the recipients of the Columbia Academic Freedom Prize in 2025.

Katz has a BA from Yale, an MPhil. from Oxford, and a PhD from Harvard.

Dr. Stephen Knott is the Thomas & Mabel Guy Professor of American History & Government at Ashland University, and an Emeritus Professor of National Security Affairs at the United States Naval War College. Prior to accepting his position at the Naval War College, Knott was Co-Chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. He also served for seven years as an Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at the United States Air Force Academy. He is the author or co-author of ten books dealing with the American presidency, the early republic, and American foreign policy. His most recent book, "Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy," was published in October, 2022.

With a B.A. in Russian Studies from Washington and Lee University and a M.A. in German from Florida State University, Alexis Mausolf gained experience teaching in various formats over the past 25 years (from kindergarten to college students, from a private Catholic school to homeschool, online and in person, at home and abroad). She has taught a variety of subjects, including German, literature, debate and public speaking, European history, and all that belongs to  a contained classroom (2nd grade). She was a writer and editor for a PreK-8th grade theology curriculum from 2016-2019. Her current position with the St. Ambrose Center at the University of Dallas allows her to explore classical pedagogy while supporting classroom teachers with professional development and training in the art of teaching.

McClay Biographical Sketch
Wilfred M. McClay is Professor of History at Hillsdale College, where he holds the Victor Davis Hanson Chair of Classical History and Western Civilization. His book The Masterless: Self and Society in Modern America received the 1995 Merle Curti Award of the Organization of American Historians for the best book in American intellectual history. Among his other books are the award-winning bestseller, Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story; and Jewish Roots of American Liberty: The Impact of Hebraic Ideas on the American Story. 

He has taught at the University of Oklahoma, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Tulane University, Pepperdine University's Graduate School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, and the University of Dallas, and has served as a Senior Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Rome. He has been a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and serves on the boards of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the Jack Miller Center, and the National Association of Scholars. He served for eleven years on the National Council on the Humanities, the advisory board for the National Endowment for the Humanities, and is currently a member of the U.S. Commission on the Semiquincentennial, which has been charged with planning the celebration of the nations 250th birthday in 2026. He has been the recipient of fellowships from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Academy of Education, and received the Bradley Prize in 2022. He is a graduate of St. Johns College (Annapolis) and received his Ph.D. in History from the Johns Hopkins University.

Betsy K. Brown McClelland is a poet, author, and educator. She worked at Great Hearts Academies from 2014-2025 as a founding teacher and eventually head of Humane Letters. She has published two books, City Nave and Leading a Seminar on Frankenstein. Her work has appeared in many outlets including First Things, Plough Quarterly, New Ohio Review, and The Circe Institute. She lives in Arizona with her husband and son.

Peter McNamara is a member of the faculty of the School of Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University.  His interests include the Scottish Enlightenment and the American Founding.  He has also taught at Boston College, Clemson University, and Utah State University.

Suzanne Meledeo is the Assistant Headmaster at Great Hearts Forest Heights Upper School and recently completed her Masters in Classical Education from University of Dallas. Immediately following her bachelor’s degree in English literature from Texas A&M University, she worked in politics for eight years for a U. S. Senator on education and health policy before switching to follow her passion for education. Suzanne is enthusiast about teaching and supporting instructors and teachers through mentorship and professional development. With over fifteen years of experience as a Senior Master Pilates Instructor, middle school and high school teacher, and administrative work, Suzanne seeks to encourage, guide, and mentor faculty as they seek to become their absolute best and walk with them on the quest for knowledge and growth. She has developed and delivered several professional development workshops that seek to support teachers on their journey. Additionally, Suzanne is passionate about classical education, particularly literary and philosophical discussions and their importance in the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty.

Thomas Merrill is professor of Government and the Director of the Lincoln Scholars Program at American University. He is the author of an award-winning book, Hume and the Politics of Enlightenment (Cambridge), editor of three edited volumes, including The Political Thought of the Civil War (Kansas), and editor of the journal American Political Thought. He is the chair of The Civic Life, American University's civic engagement initiative, and the faculty chair of Civic Learning for Democracy Engagement, a national coalition of universities and university systems working to strengthen civics in higher education. He is also a board member of the Catherine Project, an online platform for great books seminars, and is active with the Association for Core Texts and Courses.

Jason Moore is the National Communications Manager and Content Creator for the Creative Services team at Great Hearts America. In this role, he has the privilege of capturing and sharing the inspiring stories that unfold every day across Great Hearts academies, introducing new audiences to the beauty and depth of classical education. He is the proud father of four children, his two daughters, both graduates of Glendale Preparatory Academy, and his two sons who are current students. His wife of more than 20 years serves as the Dean of Students at Archway Classical Academy Glendale, making the Moore family deeply connected to and invested in the Great Hearts community.

Tammy Morrow has been a teacher for over three decades at various colleges and universities, and also at several private and public schools of secondary education. For the past sixteen years, Tammy has been working for Great Hearts, serving the network for many of these years as a lower and upper-school teacher, and more recently in the administrative roles of academic dean, director of interventions, network coach, and curriculum developer. Tammy currently serves Great Hearts Online-TX as the Assistant Headmaster for the high school.

Leah Murray is the Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Political Science and Philosophy at Weber State University, a recipient of the Barbara Burch Award for Faculty Leadership in Civic Engagement, and was recognized as the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Endowed Professor for 2017 - 2020. She currently serves as the Director of the Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service, for which she leads Weber State Votes, the campus’s student voter engagement effort, which has earned numerous recognitions. Murray holds a BA from Syracuse University and a Ph.D. from the University at Albany and is the author or co-author of 2 books, 12 journal articles and book chapters.

Kathleen O'Toole, Ph.D.Associate Vice President for K-12 Education

B.A., Politics, University of DallasM.A. Political Science, Claremont Graduate UniversityPh.D., Political Philosophy and American Government, Claremont Graduate UniversityDr. Kathleen O’Toole is the assistant provost for K-12 Education at Hillsdale College, where she leads Hillsdale’s work in K-12 education, including the K-12 Education Office and Hillsdale Academy. Prior to joining Hillsdale, she was the founding headmaster of Founders Classical Academy of Leander. She has taught at the college and high school levels at Claremont McKenna College, Morehead State University, and Founders Classical Academy of Leander. Dr. O’Toole was an editor for the Claremont Review of Books, a Publius Fellow at the Claremont Institute, and serves on the board of the Classic Learning Test. Dr. O’Toole’s doctoral dissertation was on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Politics, and examines the place of moral virtue in the happy life, focusing on magnanimity, justice, and prudence. She lives in Hillsdale, Michigan with her husband Daniel and their children Charlotte and William.

Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, studies and provides commentary on American politics. His work focuses on how America's political order is being upended by populist challenges, from the left and the right. He also studies populisms impact in other democracies in the developed world.

From 2019-2023, Mr. Olsen was an opinion columnist for The Washington Post, where he wrote daily pieces focusing on politics, populism, foreign affairs and American conservative thought. He is also the author of The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism and The Four Faces of the Republican Party, co-authored with Dante Scala.

Mr. Olsen taught as the Thomas W. Smith Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at Arizona State University for the Winter/Spring 2023 semester. He has taught at Villanova University, the Catholic University of America, and the Hillsdale College D.C. Graduate Studies Program.

Mr. Olsen was previously an editor at UnHerd.com and a regular contributor to American Greatness, City Journal, and World Magazine. Mr. Olsen's work has been featured in many prominent publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, POLITICO, The Telegraph (London), National Review, and The Guardian.

Jerilyn Olson is the Chief People Officer of Great Hearts, overseeing recruitment, human resources, and professional development across regions.  She has worked for Great Hearts since 2005, first as a teacher and coach and then in teacher recruitment and professional development.  She has a bachelor's degree in Government and Literature from Claremont McKenna College and a master's degree in humanities (with an emphasis on classical education) from the University of Dallas. She and her husband have three children and reside in the Phoenix area.

Angel Adams Parham is Associate Professor of Sociology, and senior fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. Parham is passionate about education across the K-16 educational spectrum.  At the college level she is Associate Director of the Political and Social Thought major at the University of Virginia and does research in historical sociology, examining the past in order to better understand how to live well in the present and envision wisely for the future. At the K-12 level she homeschooled her daughters from pre-k through ninth grade, and is the co-founder and executive director of Nyansa Classical Community, an educational non-profit focused on K-12 students which creates classical curricula for schools and homeschools. Nyansa curricula and programs are designed to connect with students from diverse backgrounds, inviting them to take part in the Great Conversation, cultivate the moral imagination, and strengthen foundational academic skills. Parham is the co-author (with Anika Prather) of The Black Intellectual Tradition: Reading Freedom in Classical Literature (Classical Academic Press, 2022) which examines the lives of several Black intellectuals, their formation in the classics, and their contributions to their communities.  In addition to publishing scholarly work in various journals and with Oxford University Press, Parham has written for popular outlets including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Public Discourse, The Hedgehog Review, and Common Good Magazine.   She is a contributing editor to Comment Magazine: Public Theology for the Common Good and for Principia: A Journal of Classical Education. Parham completed her B.A. in sociology at Yale University, her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was the recipient of a Fulbright grant.

Cammie Passey has been in public education for 20 years, beginning her career with the Sunnyside School District in Tucson, Arizona and continuing the adventure with Great Hearts Academies in Phoenix. Throughout her time, she's served in a variety of roles at the elementary level including (but not limited to) classroom lead in both 4th and 5th grade, campus math instructional coach, assistant headmaster, and currently as the National Director of Lower School Curriculum for Great Hearts. In keeping with her childhood dream of becoming a teacher, Cammie earned a BS in Elementary Education from Utah State University in 2002 and an MA in Educational Psychology from the University of Arizona in 2012. After joining Great Hearts in 2012, her eyes were opened to the wonders of the classical liberal arts, and she strives every day to deepen her experience in and knowledge of the great tradition.

Prior to joining the University of Dallas, William Perales worked in Catholic education for over twenty years as a teacher and principal at both the elementary and high school levels. A graduate of the St. Ignatius Institute's Catholic Great Books Program at the University of San Francisco where he majored in English and Philosophy, William has led and assisted schools transitioning to a classical vision, designed curriculum for grades K-12, and led teacher formation programs that immerse participants in the liberal arts tradition of cultivating the imagination, faith, virtue, and wisdom. He currently directs the Saint Ambrose Center, an initiative of UD to support K12 classical and Catholic schools and families around the country with professional development, curriculum resources, school leader coaching, parent enrichment, and related consulting services.

Alex is the host of Cost of Glory, a podcast dedicated to reviving the biographies of the greatest Greek and Roman leaders and applying the best practical wisdom of antiquity. He is Co-Founder of The Classical Society, a business network for successful leaders dedicated to reviving the classical spirit across industries.  A former tenure-track professor, he holds a PhD in Classics from Princeton university and has taught at Princeton, UC San Diego, and CSU Fresno.

https://www.aei.org/profile/robert-pondiscio/

Andrew Pudewa is the founder and director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing. Presenting around the world, he addresses issues relating to teaching, writing, thinking, and spelling with clarity, insight, practical experience, and humor. His seminars for parents, students, and teachers have helped transform many a reluctant writer and have equipped educators with powerful tools to dramatically improve students’ skills. Although he is a graduate of the Talent Education Institute in Japan (Suzuki Method) and holds a Certificate of Child Brain Development, his best endorsement is from a young Alaskan boy who called him “the funny man with the wonderful words.” He and his beautiful, heroic wife, Robin, homeschooled their seven children and are now proud grandparents of nineteen, making their home in Northeastern Oklahoma’s picturesque Green Country.

Jennifer Ramirez (M. Ed., Curriculum and Instruction) has spent the last seven years working for Great Hearts after ten years of working in school districts around the US and abroad in Germany. She is the Director of Career Pathways on the Great Hearts America Professional Development Team. Prior to this role, she served as a teacher in various grades K-8, mentor teacher and instructional coach, and as a Headmaster. She is passionate about the impact of instructional coaching on both teacher development and student outcomes, which has led her to this current role. Jennifer and her husband Rogelio are the proud parents of five kids, three of which are still school-age and attend Great Hearts Forest Heights as 9th, 8th, and 5th graders. Outside of education, Jennifer enjoys hitting the trails with her dog and volunteering in various children's ministry programs.

Dr. Amy Gilbert Richards is a Faculty Fellow of the Templeton Honors College's Master of Arts in Classical Teaching program. She is author of Disability and Classical Education: Student Formation in Keeping with Our Common Humanity. This book goes hand in hand with her course of the same name on ClassicalU. Both the book and the course emerged from her course in Templeton's MAT program, where she teaches a class called ‘Difference and Human Dignity in the Great Tradition’, which is dedicated both to developing an understanding of what it is to be human through the lens of disability and difference, and to offering practical techniques for classical classroom approaches for students with special needs. She lives in Havertown, PA with her husband and their three girls.

Shannon Richards is a two-time Emmy Award–winning producer and the Senior Creative Director at Great Hearts Academies. With more than two decades in broadcast and digital media, she blends storytelling artistry with strategic marketing to help schools and organizations share their mission with clarity and impact.

Her career began in television, where her creative work earned multiple Emmy Awards for excellence in production. Today, she channels that same passion into education, leading creative strategy and video content for one of the nation’s largest classical school networks.

Recognized for translating complex ideas into engaging narratives, Shannon is seen by colleagues as both an innovative thinker and a disciplined craftsman. Her work bridges timeless tradition with modern digital innovation—whether through video, social media, or large-scale campaigns—always with the aim of connecting communities more deeply to Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.

Sofia Rigolon brings over a decade of experience in teaching and curriculum design, devoted to nurturing the whole child and honoring the spirit of every learner, especially in the realm of special education. She holds master’s degrees in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Denver and Instructional Leadership from Utah State University, along with a certificate in Instructional Design from the University of Utah.

Her professional journey has taken her across age levels — from kindergarten through university — and has shaped a firm belief in the dignity and capacity of each student, regardless of how they learn. Through thoughtful, classical pedagogy, she crafts learning experiences that elevate not just academic skills but character, curiosity, discipline, and joy in learning.

Sofia’s practice is grounded in respect for tradition, clarity of purpose, and a conviction that rigorous instruction, carefully differentiated, can unlock potential in every learner. Whether working one-on-one or in collaborative teams, she builds instructional environments designed to support growth, purpose, and excellence, and to help students become confident, engaged learners.

Jeffrey Rosen is the President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, where he hosts We the People, a weekly podcast of constitutional debate. He is also a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic. He was previously the legal affairs editor of The New Republic and a staff writer for the New Yorker. 

Rosen's new book, Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle over Power in America, is out in October 2025. His other books include New York Times bestsellers The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America and Conversations with RBG: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law, as well as biographies of Louis Brandeis and William Howard Taft. 

Rosen is a graduate of Harvard College; Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar; and Yale Law School. He is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Law Institute. In 2024, the French government recognized him as a Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres"

Ian Rowe is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, focusing on education, upward mobility, family formation, and adoption. He co-founded Vertex Partnership Academies, a virtues-based, International Baccalaureate high school in the Bronx, and the National Summer School Initiative, serves as chairman of the board at Spence-Chapin, and is a senior visiting fellow at the Woodson Center. 

Following the publication of his book Agency: The Four Point Plan (F.R.E.E.) for All Children to Overcome the Victimhood Narrative and Discover Their Pathway to Power (Templeton Press, 2022), Mr. Rowe leads AEI's FREE Initiative. The FREE Initiative cultivates a deeper understanding of how family, religion, education, and entrepreneurship weave together a moral fabric that shapes and develops agency in children.

Diana Schaub is professor emerita of Political Science at Loyola University Maryland and a non-resident Senior Scholar in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department at the American Enterprise Institute. She was the Garwood Teaching Fellow at Princeton University in 2011-12 and Visiting Professor of Political Theory in the Government Department at Harvard University in 2018, 2020, and 2022. From 2004 to 2009 she was a member of the President's Council on Bioethics. She was the recipient of the Richard M. Weaver Prize for Scholarly Letters in 2001 and is the author of Erotic Liberalism: Women and Revolution in Montesquieu's and Persian Letters along with numerous book chapters and scholarly articles in the fields of political philosophy and American political thought. She is a coeditor (with Amy and Leon Kass) of What So Proudly We Hail: The American Soul in Story, Speech, and Song. A member of the Board of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Institute, she also sits on the publication committee of National Affairs. Her book on Lincoln's rhetoric and statesmanship, His Greatest Speeches: How Lincoln Moved the Nation, appeared in 2021 from St. Martins Press.

Sandra Schinetsky has been teaching at Regents School of Austin since January 2017, having previously taught junior high mathematics in Louisiana public school for seven years and earning the title Teacher of the Year in 2011. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in Mathematics Education from Texas State University, having earned both her master of education and bachelor degrees from Louisiana State University. At Regents, she has taught Algebra I, Geometry, and Precalculus. In 2020, she was a speaker at both the SCL and ACCS National Conferences of a workshop entitled “Engaging Students in a Meaningful Mathematics Harkness”; in 2021, she was the Facilitator of Math and Science for the SCL National Conference; in 2023, she was a speaker at both the SCL and ACCS National Conferences of a workshop entitled “Those Who Teach, Know: Utilizing Dialogue as a Form of Assessment”; and in 2025, she was a speaker at the SCL National Conference workshop entitled “A History Teacher and a Math Teacher Walk into a Classroom: Is Inter-departmental Collaboration Worth It?”. She is also a founder and senior consultant of Restoring Mathematics, LLC, an organization helping to train teachers to teach math classically.

Soren Schwab is a passionate educator with over a decade of experience in classical education. Born and raised in Germany, Soren moved to the United States in the late 2000s to pursue his literature and theology studies. He earned a B.A. in English from Hillsdale College and an M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction from Colorado Christian University. For several years, Soren led the Humanities Department at The Vanguard School Colorado Springs. Soren joined the Classic Learning Test in 2018 due to his desire to see classical education flourish across the country. Soren currently serves as the Vice President of Partnerships, overseeing all of CLT's sales and marketing efforts, including the Anchored Podcast, which he co-hosts. He and his wife Paula live in Annapolis, MD.

Dr. Daniel Scoggin is the co-founder of Great Hearts Academies. Over twenty years ago, he started as the headmaster of a classical, liberal arts academy in Tempe, AZ. In 2004, Dan authored the original Great Hearts business plan. As the founding CEO, he secured the initial strategic funding partnerships with local and national philanthropy to launch the Arizona network of academies. From 2004 to 2015, he directed the network's growth and academic model, including Great Hearts expansion into Texas. Great Hearts now serves 30,000 students at 48 schools in Phoenix, San Antonio, North Texas, and Baton Rouge.  Great Hearts also serves students with online classical academies, and Dan recently led the founding of a growing network of Christian classical academies in Phoenix, serving a diverse group of families via ESA funding opportunities.  In addition to serving on the Great Hearts America, Arizona, and Foundation boards, Dan is the organization's Academies Officer, overseeing school improvement and further brick-and-mortar expansion nationally.  Dr. Scoggin holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from the Claremont Graduate University, a B.A. from Santa Clara University, attended the Stanford University Executive Education program, was a Piper Fellow, Pahara-Aspen Fellow, and recently completed an M.A. in character education from the Jubilee Centre at the University of Birmingham (U.K.).   He is the father of four daughters (two Great Hearts graduates and two current scholars) and lives with his wife Tiffany in Mesa, AZ.

Colleen A. Sheehan is the David and Patricia Caldwell Visiting Scholar on the American Founding at The Heritage Foundation and Professor of Politics in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. She has served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and on the Pennsylvania State Board of Education. She is the recipient of the Earhart Fellowship, Bradley Fellowship, National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, Mary and Kennedy Smith Fellowship of the James Madison Program of Princeton University, the Garwood Fellowship of the James Madison Program of Princeton University, the Claremont Institute Henry Salvatori Prize, and the Martin Manley Teacher of the Year Award at Villanova University, where she taught for over thirty years before joining the faculty at ASU.  Sheehan is author of James Madison and the Spirit of Republican Self-Government, (Cambridge University Press, 2009), The Mind of James Madison: The Legacy of Classical Republicanism (Cambridge University Press, 2015), co-editor (with Gary L. McDowell) of Friends of The Constitution: Writings of the “Other” Federalists of 1787-88 (Liberty Fund Classics, 1998), (with Jack Rakove)The Cambridge Companion to The Federalist (Cambridge University Press, 2020), and editor of American Founders: Leaders at the Creation of the Republic (The Heritage Foundation, 2025). Her publications include articles in The American Political Science Review, William and Mary Quarterly, Review of Politics, Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal, and the Wall Street Journal.  Sheehan’s current projects include “The Madisonian Moment” and The Heartfield Footnote: An Interpretation of Jane Austen’s Emma. 

Colleen A. Sheehan is the David and Patricia Caldwell Visiting Scholar on the American Founding at The Heritage Foundation and Professor of Politics in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. She has served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and on the Pennsylvania

Andy Smarick is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, where his work focuses on education, civil society, and the principles of American conservatism. He is a member of the University of Maryland System’s Board of Regents, a contributing writer for The Dispatch, and author of the Substack “Governing Right.” Previously, he served as the chair of the Maryland Higher Education Commission and president of the Maryland State Board of Education. His other government experience includes serving as an aide in the White House Domestic Policy Counsel of President George W. Bush, legislative assistant at the U.S. House of Representatives, deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education, New Jersey deputy commissioner of education, and legislative aide at the Maryland state legislature. He helped found a college-prep charter school for disadvantaged students and the National Alliance for Public Charter schools, and he was a founding board member of 50CAN. Smarick has authored or edited four books, and his work has been published in outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, Education Week, among others. Smarick received a B.A. in government and politics, summa cum laude and with honors, from the University of Maryland and a Master of Public Management from the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy.

Dr. Diana Smith served as the Principal and academic leader at Washington Latin for 15 years beginning in 2008, following several decades’ experience teaching and leading in both public and private schools. With a Ph.D. in English from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in Classics from Princeton University (Phi Beta Kappa), Dr. Smith now serves at Washington Latin as the Chief of Classical Education, charged with ensuring that Latin’s classical mission is fully understood and integrated throughout the organization, particularly working with academic leaders to refine our classical curriculum and teaching model. Dr. Smith led the organization’s effort to define The Latin Way, which defines the “lived reality” of our schools’ culture in four principles. She also teaches at both the 2nd Street and Cooper Campuses, reflecting her love of teaching and commitment to staying close to the classroom.

James R. Stoner, Jr. is the Hermann Moyse, Jr., Professor and Director of the Eric Voegelin Institute in the Department of Political Science at Louisiana State University, where he has taught since 1988.  He is the author of Common-Law Liberty (Kansas, 2003) and Common Law and Liberal Theory (Kansas, 1992), and co-editor of five books, most recently The Political Thought of the Civil War (Kansas, 2018) with Alan Levine and Thomas Merrill, and Free Speech and Intellectual Diversity in Higher Education (Lexington Books, 2023) with Paul O. Carrese and Carol McNamara.  He was twice a visiting fellow in the James Madison Program at Princeton University (2002-03, 2013-14), the second time as Garwood Professor.  He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University and his A.B. from Middlebury College.

James Tanton (PhD, Princeton 1994, mathematics) is an author, a consultant, and an ambassador for the Mathematical Association of America, currently serving as their Mathematician-at-Large. He has taught mathematics both at university and high-school institutions. James is absolutely committed to promoting effective and joyful mathematics thinking, learning, and doing at all levels of the education spectrum.

James writes books, advises on curriculum, consults with teachers, and gives demonstration classes and professional development sessions across the globe, and is founder of The Global Math Project, an initiative set to transform the entire world's perception of what mathematics can and should be.

Jake Tawney serves as the Chief Academic Officer for Great Hearts Academies, a network of classical charter schools across multiple states. Jake has an undergraduate degree in mathematics and computer science from Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He continued his studies at The Ohio State University where he earned a masters degree in mathematics. After teaching all levels of high school mathematics and computer science for nearly a decade, Jake took on the role of Director of Student Services for a district in central Ohio. During his time in Ohio, Jake also taught at the Pontifical College Josephinum, including courses in Euclid and the Philosophy of Mathematics. In 2014 Jake relocated his family to Phoenix, AZ to join Great Hearts Academies. Jake is the proud husband of Christina and the proud father of eight children, all of whom have something unique in their souls that can only be satisfied by wondering about mathematics.  In 2025, Jake published his first book "Another Sort of Mathematics: Selected Proofs Necessary to Finally Acquire an Education in Mathematics", now available on Amazon.

From 2008 to 2022, Erik played a pivotal role in developing Great Hearts into the largest network of classical schools in the United States. He has taught middle and high school, served as a founding headmaster, overseen headmasters, strategic network growth, and lead external affairs.  He served as President of Great Hearts Arizona from 2017 to 2022, where he led significant advancements in operational, enrollment, and facility growth.

Erik’s academic background includes degrees from Trinity University, where he studied political science, and Oxford University, where he studied theology and philosophy. He has written on a variety of topics across education and culture for the Washington Examiner, First Things, Real Clear Education, and The Free Press.

Erin Davis Valdez is the Education Policy Director at the Cicero Institute and Executive Director of the Center for Education at Public Service Incubator at the University of Austin. She has been passionate about the transformational power of education all her life, having been given the gift of being homeschooled. She taught for over a decade in Austin-area schools and served as an assistant principal at a charter school in the DFW area. These experiences have given her the opportunity to see first-hand how students can thrive when they have excellent options.

Valdez's subsequent work in educational philanthropy and policy focused on expanding choices in higher education and K12, with a special emphasis on postsecondary and workforce programs in Texas.  

Valdez earned an M.A. in classics from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a B.A. in classical studies from Hillsdale College. She studied in Athens, Greece her junior year and worked as an excavator at the Agora archaeological site for three seasons. 

Valdez has lived in the Austin area (on and off) since 1990.  She enjoys yoga, reading, volunteering, and spending time with her husband Jeremy, her family, friends, and cocker spaniel, Scoops."

Heather Washburn Vice President of Academic Achievement and Accessibility Heather Washburn brings over a decade of leadership in classical education to her role as Vice President of Academic Achievement and Accessibility. She served seven years as a Great Hearts headmaster, including four years as founding headmaster of Archway Trivium East, where she established the academy's academic foundation, and three years as headmaster of Veritas Prep.

Her experience spans turnaround strategies, classical pedagogy, and curriculum development, informed by her unique perspective as a homeschooling mother and former Great Hearts teacher. Washburn is dedicated to ensuring that the transformative power of classical education is rigorous, accessible, and supportive for every student, regardless of their background, starting point, or individual capacity.

Dr. Wilkerson currently serves as the K-12 Mathematics Department Chair at Regents School of Austin where he has taught since 2012. He oversees the math curriculum at Regents, in written form as well as in human form in the training of teachers. He believes strongly in the teacher as the living curriculum and the storyteller for the students. He holds degrees in Mathematics (BS, Texas A&M University), Theology (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary), and Math Education (PhD, Texas State University). He is passionate about restoring faith in the teaching of mathematics and has written extensively on this topic for various publications as well as his own website, GodandMath.com, and he is the acting president of the Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences. Along with several colleagues he founded the consulting group Restoring Mathematics LLC which works with teachers, administrators, and parents at classical schools on how to teach math classically and cultivate the mathematical affections of students.

Brian A. Williams (DPhil, Oxon) is Dean of the Templeton Honors College, Professor of Ethics and Liberal Studies, and Co-Director of the MA in Classical Teaching (MAT) with Dr. Ravi Jain at Eastern University. He is the General Editor of Principia: A Journal of Classical Education and speaks worldwide on classical education. He also serves on the Academic Board of the Classic Learning Test (CLT), the Board of Advisors for the Classic Liberal Education Network (UK), and the National Board of the Alcuin Fellowship. He was Co-Director of 100 Days of Dante and Director of Oxford Conversations. Dr. Williams previously taught Theology, Philosophy, and Literature at Cair Paravel Latin School (Topeka, KS) and was Departmental Lecturer in Christian Ethics at the University of Oxford. Dr. Williams earned a B.A. in Biblical Literature, a M.A. and ThM in Theology from Regent College (Vancouver), and an MPhil and DPhil in Christian Ethics from the University of Oxford. His research focuses on education and formation in the Christian Intellectual Tradition, focusing on the works of Hugh of St. Victor, Philip Melanchthon, and John Henry Newman, among others. He is married to Kim, a visual artist and teacher, and has three children: Ilia, Brecon, and Maeve.

Steven F. Wilson is a senior fellow at Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research. An education entrepreneur, policymaker, and writer, Wilson founded and built Ascend Learning, a network of tuition-free, liberal arts charter schools in Central Brooklyn. The Center for Research on Educational Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University identified Ascend as a gap busting network for its success in closing and reversing achievement gaps of race and income. His most recent venture, the National Summer School Initiative, provides accelerated instruction in the wake of the pandemic to 150,000 urban students. Wilson drafted the Massachusetts charter school law and helped shape the state's landmark 1993 education reforms. His first book, Reinventing the Schools: A Radical Plan for Boston, drove the development and passage of the Massachusetts charter school law. Learning on the Job: When Business Takes on Public Schools won the Virginia and Warren Stone prize for an outstanding book on education and society. His new book, The Lost Decade: Returning to the Fight for Better Schools in America, was published this year.

Originally from the UK, Dr. Liliana Worth Govrin is a graduate of the University of Oxford, where she received three degrees: a BA in Classics and French, an MSt in Medieval Studies and a DPhil in English Literature. She then completed a Horstmann Prize Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Münster, Germany. Her subsequent work in education took her to Asia for six years, where she specialized in teaching comparative classics and languages, and later studied for a MA in Jewish Education from the London School of Jewish Studies. A specialist in comparative literature, Liliana is fluent in six modern languages and can read three classical ones. Her translations of French and Mandarin titles have been published in the UK and China.

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Inspired by the Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch model of the Jewish gymnasium, Dr. Worthmoved from Israel with her family to build the first Jewish Classical Elementary school in the US. As the founding Head of School at Hadar Jewish Classical Academy, she is committed to creating a rigorous program that endows Pre-K to Elementary students with a strong sense of Jewish identity, Hebrew fluency, a resilient moral character, and a deep appreciation of the great works of Western civilization.

Dr. Joseph Wysocki is a native of Long Island, New York. He is Interim President and Provost At Belmont Abbey College. He was the founding Dean of the great books focused Honors College at Belmont Abbey College where he has also served as Assistant Academic Dean, and Chair and Associate Professor of the Politics Department since 2010. He is interested in all of the great books in the Honors College curriculum but has a particular focus on classical political philosophy and American political thought, especially the thought of Alexis de Tocqueville. Dr. Wysocki received his B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Belmont Abbey College and his M.A. and Ph.D in Political Science at Baylor University. He served on the Council of Scholars for the American Academy for Liberal Education and CLT’s Board of Academic Advisors. He lives in Gastonia, NC with his wife Jeanne and his eight children.

Professor of political science emeritus, U of Notre Dame, Clinical prof. of SCETL ASU. Author of The Natural Rights Republic and A Nation So Conceived: Lincoln and the paradox of Democratic Sovereignty.

Andrew J. Zwerneman is co-founder and president of Cana Academy. He blogs weekly at www.canaacademy.org and is the author of History Forgotten and Remembered (2020), The Life We Have Together: A Case for Humane Studies, A Vision for Renewal (2022). and the forthcoming REMEMBER: Freedom and Responsibility Under History (2026). Andrew is writer and narrator for the film series, HISTORY250. Andrew holds degrees in history, politics, and theology. Since 1983, he has been a teacher. Since 2016, he has helped train over 5,000 teachers.