Michael Bridges has been appointed as the Executive Director of the University Center for Teaching and Learning, effective July 1, 2023. He has served as Interim Executive Director over the last year.

Mike understands the critical importance of the University Center for Teaching and Learning to the University of Pittsburgh, and plans to lead our efforts to provide innovation and excellence in support of on-campus teaching, learning, assessment, diversity in the curriculum, and other teaching activities across the institution.

Mike brings over 30 years of higher education experience to this role—with expertise in faculty development, program architecture and design, course design, educational technology, and online learning.

Prior to joining the University of Pittsburgh, Mike was the Executive Director of Online Learning & Strategy at Duquesne University. He was previously the Vice President for Educational Strategy and Excellence at iCarnegie Global Learning and has held leadership roles in faculty development at Carnegie Mellon and UPMC St. Margaret Hospital. He frequently speaks at other institutions, and his book, How Learning Works: 7 Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching (co-authored with past colleagues), synthesizes the research on how people learn into a set of fundamental principles that can guide instructors in the design, development, and delivery of their courses.

Mike earned his PhD in social psychology from Carnegie Mellon University, where he still teaches a course in survey research design.