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Teaching Center Welcomes Michael Bridges

Michael Bridges, PhD, Director of the Teaching Commons
Michael Bridges, PhD, Director of the Teaching Commons

The University Center for Teaching and Learning is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Bridges, PhD, to the position of Director of the Teaching Commons, effective Feb. 17. Mike will join the senior leadership team at the Teaching Center, and he will assume responsibility for leading efforts in teaching innovation, faculty development, consulting, course design and development, assessment, diversity in the curriculum, and other teaching and learning initiatives.

Mike previously served as Executive Director, Online Learning and Strategy at Duquesne University. In addition, he is an adjunct professor of Management and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, where he has also held positions at the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence, the Software Engineering Institute, and the Department of Psychology. Prior to joining Duquesne, Mike was Executive Director of Education at Amber-Allen Publishing, and before that was Vice President of Educational Strategy and Educational Excellence at  iCarnegie. He previously served as Associate Director of Faculty Development in the Department of Family Medicine at UPMC St. Margaret, and as Survey Operations Manager/Senior Analyst at Pitt’s UCSUR.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mike to Pitt, and to the Teaching Center,” noted Cynthia Golden, Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director.  “He brings a wealth of experience as a leader and innovator in teaching and learning.”

Mike brings to his new role at Pitt over 25 years of experience in academic strategy, faculty development, assessment, educational technology, and online learning. He is a co-author of the popular book, How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching.  He also brings broad expertise in the scholarship of teaching and learning and the application of the science of learning to institutional strategy. Mike has extensive experience in online learning, including program evaluation, quality standards, online course evaluation, instructional design, faculty development and student onboarding. Mike holds both a PhD and MS in Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in Psychology from the University of Arizona.

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