CADE 2017 Plenary Speakers will be Professor Myra Snell and J. Luke Wood, PhD:

Professor Myra Snell

Myra Snell has been teaching mathematics at Los Medanos College for 24 years. At LMC she has served as Math Department Chair, Director of the Developmental Education Program, and SLO Assessment Coordinator. In 2008 she developed a statistics pathway for underprepared students. At LMC, 60% of the students in this pathway complete transferable math, compared to 20% in traditional remediation.

In 2010, Myra co-founded the California Acceleration Project with Katie Hern. Over the last 6 years, CAP has helped 35 California community colleges to implement accelerated statistics pathways for underprepared students. In the first cohort of 8 colleges, students in accelerated Statistics pathways were 4.5 times more likely to complete transferable math, and African American students quadrupled their completion rate.

In 2014 Myra was one of four finalists for the prestigious national Faculty Innovation award from the American Association of Community Colleges. In 2016 Washington Monthly included her and Katie Hern in their list of the 16 Most Innovative People in Higher Education.

J. Luke Wood, PhD

J. Luke Wood, PhD, is Associate Professor of Community College Leadership and the Director of the Community College Leadership Ed.D. program at San Diego State University (SDSU) and Joint Ph.D. program in Education between San Diego State University and Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Wood is also Co-Director of the Minority Male Community College Collaborative (M2C3), a national research and practice center that partners with community colleges to support their capacity in advancing outcomes for men of color. M2C3 houses the National Consortium on College Men of Color (NCCMC) which host trainings, information sharing sessions, and provides resources to colleges with initiatives and programs supporting college men of color.

Wood’s research focuses on factors affecting the success of men of color in the community college. In particular, his research examines contributors (e.g., social, psychological, academic, environmental, institutional) to positive outcomes (e.g., persistence, achievement, attainment, transfer, labor market outcomes) for these men.  Dr. Wood has delivered over a 120 scholarly professional and conference presentation. His research has been featured by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, New York Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, Huffington Post, Fortune Magazine, C-SPAN, and National Press Club. Dr. Wood has authored over 100 publications, including more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles. He has authored and edited 14 books, his most recent books include: Supporting men of color in the community college (2017, Wood and Harris III), Teaching boys and young men of color (2016, Wood and Harris III) and Teaching men of color in the community college (2015, Wood, Harris III, and White).