Biography

Cassandra Volpe Horii is inaugural Assistant Vice Provost and Director of the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Outreach at Caltech. She consults with and facilitates programs for faculty, teaching assistants, and students in order to enhance learning and support teaching innovation in courses, curricula, instructional technology, and STEM educational outreach. She serves as a member of the National Academies Roundtable on Systemic Change in Undergraduate STEM Education, and has served as president of the POD Network in Higher Education, the premier national organization for centers for teaching and learning.

Cassandra's prior roles have included Dean of Faculty at Curry College in Milton, MA, and Associate Director at the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University. With a B.A. in Physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Ph.D. in Earth & Planetary Science from Harvard University, she has taught undergraduate and graduate-level science courses in atmospheric sciences and environmental chemistry, as well as Expository Writing and First Year Seminar. She has published and presented on topics such as student prior knowledge, MOOCs, course design, learner-centered exams and assessment, technology-enhanced personal learning networks, changing institutional teaching cultures, writing and teaching in the sciences, adult learning theories, and peer teaching mentors.