Executive Committee Nominees
The elections for new Executive Committee members are now open; those elected will serve three-year terms, 2026-2029.
This committee takes a key role in advising a2ru staff in how we serve our mission and lead inter-institutional collaborations and thought leadership on behalf of the entire network. We partner with these individuals to enact new programs; we rely on these committee members to weigh in on how we spend a2ru’s resources, from staff convening time as how we allocate a2ru revenue and gift funds. They also coordinate leveraging external funds to resource both member schools and a2ru network activities aligned with a2ru’smission. The committee also works in monthly meetings to strategically chart the direction of the network’s activities.
Please vote for this year’s new Executive Committee members by clicking the link below. You may vote for up to three nominees. Voting is only open to a2ru members and will close on June 30, 2026.
The 2026 nominees include:
Erica Halverson, Gibb Faculty Professor of Curriculum & Instruction, Chair of the Department of Theatre & Drama, and Special Advisor to the Dean on Arts and Innovation, School of Education, University of Wisconsin—Madison
Biography:
Dr. Erica Halverson is the Gibb Faculty Professor of Curriculum & Instruction, Chair of the Department of Theatre & Drama, and Special Advisor to the Dean on Arts and Innovation in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has dedicated her career to the study of how people learn in and through the arts and to translating these insights into the design of learning environments. She is the author of How the Arts Can Save Education, host of the podcast, Arts Educators Save the World, and self-appointed Mayor of Whoopensocker, a community arts organization supporting the development of creative expression through writing, improvisation, and performance.
Nominee Statement:
I am excited to be considered for the Executive Committee the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities. This is crucial time for the arts and humanities in higher education, and I am eager to work together with colleagues from across the US to advocate for programs, processes, and scholarship that contributes to our collective human flourishing. I am in a unique position to help support the initiatives of a2ru. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I am in the School of Education, which houses programs across the arts, education, and health. Our vision, “We are One School – where we innovate in the arts, education, and health to enrich lives, empower communities, and shape the future,” allows me to explore questions of how these disciplines intersect in my teaching, scholarship, and leadership.
As a teacher, I have built and run a minor for undergraduates in becoming a teaching artist, where artists and pre-service teachers work alongside one another to develop their skills as arts-integrated practitioners. I also run workshops for teachers k-16 in arts integrated pedagogy, with communities ranging from Milwaukee-based early childhood educators to high school teachers in East Central Texas, to faculty at the University of Michigan.
My scholarship is focused on how people learn in and through the arts. Over the past 20 years I have received funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the MacArthur Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Wallace Foundation all focused on how arts practices transform young peoples’ learning lives and the communities they live in. My 2021 book, How the Arts Can Save Education, describes how arts practices can transform the way we understand teaching and learning including and beyond the arts classroom. My community arts organization, Whoopensocker, has been in classrooms in the Madison-area for 10 years. Recently, we launched a digital collection with PBS Education Wisconsin to offer resources and ideas for arts and literacy-integrated pedagogy (https://pbswisconsineducation.org/whoopensocker/about/) and we are developing the Whoopenbot to serve as an AI Socratic dialogue partner for one-on-one creative writing support in the classroom. I am also host of the podcast, Arts Educators Save the World, where successful artists and their mentors talk about the impact of arts education on both their lives. This public platform for sharing the impact of arts education has enabled me to reach broader audiences and create a community dialogue around the arts and learning.
I am especially excited to wear my hat as Special Advisor to the Dean for Arts and Innovation in conversations with a2ru membership and other Executive Committee members as the organization tackles this year’s theme – arts, health, and human flourishing – as well as the other areas of shared interest such as the arts and social prescribing and the role of AI in our arts enterprises. In my role, I am responsible for supporting and building programs that engage UW students, staff, and faculty in innovative, interdisciplinary arts programming across teaching and scholarship. The Executive Committee at a2ru is an exciting set of thought partners for realizing this vision at UW-Madison and I look forward to our collaboration.
Michael Schmidt, Director, Institute for Arts and Health, College of Communication and Fine Arts at the University of Memphis
Biography
Michael Schmidt, PhD, MGD, is a professor of graphic design with an affiliate faculty position in public health. He serves as director of the Institute for Arts and health in the University of Memphis College of Communication and Fine Arts. He holds a PhD in social and behavioral sciences from the University of Memphis School of Public Health, an MGD (master’s in graphic design) from North Carolina State University, and a BFA in art and design from Ohio University. Michael has 30 years’ experience in higher education, with the past 20 of those years spent leading or co-leading interdisciplinary and externally funded research teams. Much of his research involves collaboration with community partners, and he has received both college- and university-level recognition for his engaged scholarship. His research interests include arts integration, arts and health, graphic design for health programs and interventions, substance use disorder treatment access and retention, intimate partner violence help seeking, and health warning label design for smoking and vaping prevention and cessation. His work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the Greenwall Foundation.
Nominee Statement
Faculty in higher education institutions are facing multiple crises: declining enrollment; program sunsetting and position losses and reallocations; federal funding cuts and increased competition for alternative forms of support; attacks on tenure, academic freedom, and shared governance; disruptive technologies; and politically motivated and ideologically based slander of academic professionals. These contemporaneous crises are having a pronounced impact on faculty in the arts, their research, academic programs, and students. I am interested in and passionate about addressing these crises through a social-ecological continuum of responses, including (1) supporting individual faculty researchers through a supportive professional community, (2) enhancing interpersonal/interdisciplinary collaborations with training resources and partnership opportunities, (3) case making—particularly in response to pecuniary arguments around ROI—to organizational leadership, and (4) advocating for the arts where policy decisions impacting higher education are made. As an organization, a2ru is well positioned and has clearly demonstrated capability for addressing these challenges systemically. I believe these efforts will also help a2ru further attract members, increase working group participation, continue to grow conference attendance, and enhance their already excellent body of resources for arts research, arts integration, and arts in higher education advocacy. Additionally, I am currently serving on the following a2ru working groups: ADR, Metrics, Art and Public Health Community of Practice, and Art in Health Educators; I wish to extend my engagement by joining a2ru’s executive committee.
Jinsil Hwaryoung Seo, Associtae Dean for Research and Creative Works, College of Performance, Visualization & Fine Arts, Texas A&M University
Biography:
Jinsil Hwaryoung Seo is Associate Dean for Research and Creative Works at Texas A&M University’s College of Performance, Visualization & Fine Arts. She serves as Director of the Institute for Applied Creativity and is the founding director of the Soft Interaction Lab. Seo holds a PhD in Interactive Art and Technology from Simon Fraser University in Canada and an MFA in Computer Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York.
Seo’s interdisciplinary research and creative practice explore the intersections of human experience, nature, and emerging technologies through embodied and immersive interaction. Her work investigates how interactive art, tangible interfaces, wearable technologies, and mixed reality systems foster engagement, learning, empathy, and social connection across diverse audiences and disciplines. Her research spans participatory design, learning technologies, and human-centered creative systems, with applications in STEAM education, medical and nursing education, social awareness, and community engagement. Her work has been supported by organizations including the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Health Resources & Services Administration.
Seo’s interactive artworks and research have been exhibited and presented nationally and internationally at venues including ISEA, SIGGRAPH, TEI, IDMAA, and Creativity & Cognition. She has published widely on tangible and embodied interaction, immersive learning environments, interactive design, and interdisciplinary creative research. Seo advocates for collaborative research models that integrate the arts with science, engineering, health, and technology, emphasizing creative practice as a catalyst for innovation, inclusion, and transformative education within research universities.
Nominee Statement:
I am honored to be considered for another term on the a2ru Executive Committee. Throughout my work as an artist, researcher, and administrator, I have witnessed the transformative role the arts can play in advancing innovation, empathy, and interdisciplinary collaboration across research universities. At a time when higher education is redefining the meaning and impact of research, I believe a2ru continues to play a critical role in advocating for arts-integrative scholarship and building infrastructures that support collaborative creative inquiry.
At Texas A&M University, one of my primary goals is to further advance the visibility, legitimacy, and institutional support of arts-integrated research within a large research-intensive environment. I am committed to demonstrating how creative practice and artistic inquiry contribute meaningfully to research, innovation, and public impact alongside science, engineering, health, and technology. I hope to foster stronger interdisciplinary collaboration across colleges and departments by creating new opportunities for faculty and students to engage in shared creative and research initiatives.
I am also deeply interested in expanding interdisciplinary art and research networks across Texas. By connecting universities, faculty, students, and community partners, I hope to help cultivate a stronger regional ecosystem that supports collaborative research, creative practice, and emerging interdisciplinary fields. I believe a2ru’s national network offers an important framework for sustaining these partnerships and encouraging long-term interdisciplinary exchange.
Within a2ru, I would also like to continue contributing to national conversations surrounding the measurement and evaluation of artistic and interdisciplinary research, as well as AI in the arts and arts in health. As universities increasingly rely on data-driven assessment systems, it is essential that we develop more inclusive frameworks that recognize the value of creative practice, embodied knowledge, public scholarship, and collaborative research.
I would be honored to continue serving alongside colleagues across the a2ru network to strengthen the role of the arts in research universities and to help foster more connected, collaborative, and creative futures for higher education.
The 2027 nomination process for new Executive Committee members will open next spring. If you are interested in nominating yourself or a colleague for the a2ru Executive Committee in a future election cycle, please contact a2ru Executive Director Maryrose Flanigan at flanigam@umich.edu.