Biography

Megan J. Hennessey, Ph.D. is the Director of the Teaching and Learning Center at Air University. In this role, Dr. Hennessey works to enhance student-centered teaching, sound curriculum design, and engaged learning through the promotion and scholarship of evidence-based instructional strategies and learning technology, and the developmental support of both students and faculty. She is credentialed as an Associate Professor.

Before coming to Air University, Dr. Hennessey was the Director of Educational Methodology at the U.S. Army War College where she created the Joint Professional Military Education Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Forum (JSOTL Forum), a conference focusing on educational research throughout the professional military education community. She also managed the college’s faculty development program and served as Course Director of the Introduction to Strategic Studies course.

Dr. Hennessey has held senior faculty and instructional systems designer positions at the FBI Academy and the National Geospatial-Intelligence College, where she earned the Visionary of the Quarter Award for pioneering the application of adaptive leadership skills and problem-based learning into an accredited instructor certification program. From 2010-2013, she was a faculty member in and acting department head of the Communication Department at the Expeditionary Warfare School, Marine Corps University, with collateral instructional and consulting responsibilities at The Basic School, Senior Enlisted PME Course, and Wounded Warrior Regiment. While at Marine Corps University, she was nominated by her faculty peers for the Rose Award for Teaching Excellence.

Dr. Hennessey completed her doctoral dissertation on The Lived Faculty Development Experience of Active Duty Military Instructors and earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education from George Mason University. She earned her master's degree in English with a specialization in Shakespeare Studies from University College London, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in English and Religious Studies from Hollins University. She also holds a certificate in Leadership Studies from the Batten Leadership Institute. Her areas of expertise include the scholarship of teaching and learning, faculty development, professional military education, and English language and literature. She is a member of the Professional and Organizational Development Network (POD) and #NatSecGirlSquad.

Most recently, Dr. Hennessey published a book chapter on “Environmental Scans and Communal Relationships” inWomen and Leadership Development in College: A Facilitation Resource (J. M Pigza & J. Owen, Eds.), and the article “A Relational Learning Environment Approach to New Faculty Orientation in Professional Military Education” in the Journal of Military Learning. Her essays on “How Can We Know if Professional Military Education Works?” and “Reframing Rigor for Senior Service Colleges” recently appeared in War on the Rocks. Her forthcoming work includes a jointly authored article on “Gendered Experiences in Professional Military Education: Implications for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” for a special edition of Armed Forces and Society (with S. Erwin, B. Jenner, and B. Weigle).

Dr. Hennessey earned a direct commission as a Public Affairs Officer in the United States Navy in 2016.