Directory

Brian Baldi serves as the Interim Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. Brian leads the Lilly Fellowship for Teaching Excellence, conducts midterm assessments and teaching consultations, co-founded the Contemplative Pedagogy Working Group, and co-facilitates workshops on topics such as: assignment design, getting students to engage with course readings, wellbeing for teachers, addressing student evaluations, course design, and more.

Kristen first began her career while earning her undergraduate degree at UMass-Amherst in 2001 working for the ARPE unit at the UMass Donahue Institute. Her role included oversight of large-scale data collection for research and evaluation projects focused on education initiatives, public policy, public health and government programs. She left for a short time before returning to UMass in 2023. Kristen’s current role now resides in Academic Human Resources within the Office of the Provost. She serves as a labor relations coordinator providing administrative and logistical support to the

Mindy Rivera supports the Provost’s Office as the Human Resources Specialist. She serves as an advisor and consultant on staff-related human resources management, personnel policies, and procedures for Academic Affairs.

Katy Maher is the Assistant Provost for Financial Planning and Operations

Sundar Krishnamurty serves as Vice Provost for Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Creativity at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Fouad Abd-El-Khalick joins the university with more than two decades of dedication to research, teaching, and service missions at flagship public institutions. Most recently, he served as Dean of the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before that, he spent 16 years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he served as the Head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Associate Dean of Research for its renowned College of Education.

An elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Dr. Abd-El

Donna Rae Kenneally serves as the Lead HRBP for the Provost Office.

Dr. Williams is a higher education researcher with more than thirty years of experience leading and contributing to institutional research at UMass Amherst. Liz manages two companion offices that support data-informed decision making throughout the university: Assessment, Survey, and Effectiveness Research (ASER; previously OAPA) and University Analytics and Institutional Research (UAIR). 

Jennifer Donelson serves as the HRBP II for the Provost Office.

Sue Gualberto is the Administrative & Accounting Coordinator for Academic Affairs Administration & Finance. She provides a range of operational support services for the Provost’s Office and Academic Affairs administrative units, including purchasing, expense reports, and graduate student payments.