Board of Directors

Ali Jafari, Ph.D. is Professor of Computer Information Technology and Director of the CyberLab at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Dr. Jafari is renowned for his research and expertise in smart learning environments, having founded and co-developed several high-profile technology solutions and systems for education, including Indiana University’s Oncourse CMS (now Sakai), ANGEL Learning (acquired by Blackboard in May 2009), Epsilen Environment, and most recently CourseNetworking.He has edited three books on portals, Course Management Systems, and ePortfolio, has presented at more than one hundred national and international conferences and has published in professional and scholarly journals on a variety of subjects in information technology as it relates to teaching and learning. Dr. Jafari’s research interests include user interface design, agent-based learning environments, intelligent user interfaces, and distance learning.

Joseph M. Scodro, JD, joined the IU Vice President and General Council office in 1998 and grew to be one of the lead attorneys for the Indianapolis campus, IU School of Medicine and other health sciences schools for 25 years. Throughout his tenure at IU, Joe has viewed his work as a service, and embodied the impact mission-driven legal counsel can have on an institution.

In his day-to-day role as deputy general counsel, Joe provided decades of sound legal advice to his colleagues but has helped those colleagues develop a greater understanding of legal and ethical issues—fostering an environment of integrity and education. He has advised leadership through a wide range of areas including research-related compliance, employment law, conflict of interest, scientific misconduct, complex contracts and faculty governance. On three separate occasions – in 2010, 2012, and 2021 – Joe served as a source of stability for the vice president’s office by serving as interim general counsel.

​In 2023, IU president Pamela Whitten awarded Joe the Distinguished Service Medal, honoring his incredible contributions to the university.

Ian McIntosh is the Director of International Partnerships at IUPUI and an Adjunct in the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and the IUPUI School of Liberal Arts.

Ian serves as IUPUI’s liaison to universities and organizations around the world that have formal affiliations with the Indianapolis campus. He is also the international advisor at the IUPUI Honors College and leads the Spring Break service-learning study abroad program in Costa Rica. Ian has published a number of books on Aboriginal Australian religion and culture, including 'The Whale and the Cross', and on the topic of pilgrimage and peacebuilding. such as ' Pilgrimage. Walking to the Peace, Walking for Change.'

Felice has spent the majority of her career in education, both on college campuses and for 12 years with The New York Times Company. In her final role there, she served as executive director of education. One of her key roles was developing The New York Times Knowledge Network, a new business model in e-Learning that included collaboration with colleges and universities to create and deliver online courses and certificates, including courses created and taught by New York Times journalists. In 2010 she led the Times Company’s collaboration with the Texas Education Agency to launch Project Share, a statewide initiative for 400,000 teachers and four million K-12 students. Before joining The Times, Nudelman served as executive director for Pace University’s School of Education (N.Y.), where she was responsible for internal and external relations, new program development, and the design and implementation of continuing education programs. Previously, Nudelman spent nearly a decade in academic affairs at Bloomfield College (N.J.), where she served in several capacities including associate dean of academic affairs.

Amir Pasic is the Eugene R. Tempel Dean of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the world’s first school devoted to research and teaching about philanthropy.

Pasic served as deputy director of the world security project at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and was deputy vice president for advancement at The George Washington University. A former librarian at the Library of Congress, he began his career with faculty appointments at Brown University's Watson Institute.

Pasic earned his doctorate in political science at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a master's degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Yale University.

Gerry Hanley Ph.D. is the Executive Director of MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching, www.merlot.org) and SkillsCommons (www.skillscommons.org) which are free and open digital libraries of academic and workforce development teaching, learning, and training resources administered at California State University Long Beach.  At CSULB, Gerry is also the Director of the Center for Usability in Design and Accessibility and Professor Emeritus of Psychology; he teaches Human Factors, conducts research, and leads projects for industry, education, and government agencies.  A current priority is the Innovation Marketplace as the Chief Academic Officer for the nationally recognized agency, Partner in Publishing.   Gerry’s previous positions included Assistant Vice Chancellor & Senior Director for Academic Technology Services at the CSU Office of the Chancellor and at CSULB, the Director of Faculty Development, and the Director of Strategy Planning. He received his BA, MA, and PhD from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in Experimental/Cognitive Psychology.

William M. Plater served as the chief academic officer at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (1987-2006), Director of the Office of International and Community Development (2006-10), and retired as Indiana University Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus of Public Affairs, Philanthropic Studies, and English in 2010.  Earlier, he served as Dean of Liberal Arts at IUPUI (1983-87) and Associate Director of the School of Humanities (1977-83) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  More recently, he was Senior Consultant for Higher Education Strategies at Epsilen, a New York Times learning technology company (2010-2011) and Course Networking (2011-2012); Senior Advisor for International Affairs at the Western Association of Senior Colleges and Universities (2012-2014);  Research Director for Civic Learning and Community Engagement at Laureate Education (2016-2018); Senior Scholar at The Quality Assurance Commons for Postsecondary Education (2016 to 2021).  Plater earned a PhD in English Literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1973 and was awarded honorary doctorates in 2010 by Purdue University and Thailand’s National Institute of Development Administration.

Mien Dee Yong holds a Bachelor’s in Finance and International Business, a minor in Economics, and a Master’s in Management Information Systems from Indiana University, Indiana. With over 20 years of working experience in corporate consulting, start up and private equity investments, Mien Dee has a wide industry experience in building and growing companies.  Mien Dee started her career in the United States in venture capital and software then went on to consulting under PWC USA before returning to Malaysia to do her national service with Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) under the Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia.

She then started her entrepreneurial journey where she founded 3 companies in EdTech/eCommerce/retail, after which, she returned to private equity investments with Global Kiara Investments where she is now the Managing Director and Board Member.

Passionate about education and technology, she started CourseNetworking Asia Pacific (CNAP) in April 2014 where she is the Founder and Director. She focused on growing the Asia business after an initial few years of wavering ups and downs, CNAP now has 260,000 active users and is a running profitable business. Currently, CNAP is being used in various universities, colleges, teacher training institutes, & corporations in the ASEAN region.