Pioneer Academics 4th Annual Co-Curricular Summit

A globally recognized expert in education, Tony Wagner is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute, founded by Linda Darling-Hammond in 2015. Prior to this appointment, Tony held a variety of positions at Harvard University for more than twenty years, including four years as an Expert in Residence at the Harvard Innovation Lab and the founder and co-director, for more than a decade, of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His previous work experience includes twelve years as a high school teacher, K-8 principal, university professor in teacher education, and founding executive director of Educators for Social Responsibility. He is the author of seven books and numerous articles. He has also worked on two wide-viewed education documentaries.

Megan Cannella is the Director of Outreach at the Davidson Institute, where she has worked since 2019. Before that, she taught college-level humanities courses for almost a decade. Megan's outreach role focuses on advocacy and equity for neurodivergent learners. Contact with Megan at mcannella@davidsongifted.org. 

Dr. Sook received her Ph. D. in Rhetoric from Texas Woman’s University. She has been active in Odyssey of the Mind for over 40 years. She really enjoys helping young people learn that “creativity can be taught.” She is currently teaching at TWU but has taught high school for several years. She coached Odyssey teams at all levels and is currently working with both the state and international boards to assist administrators, teachers, parents, and students learn about the benefits of the program.

Brian Cooper is the Director of Research & Development for Pioneer Academics, helping to drive Pioneer’s innovation and learning delivery. Brian has nearly 30 years of education experience working with gifted and talented students. Prior to joining the Pioneer team, Brian spent 25 years at Duke University’s Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP), developing and managing innovative programs for talented students from around the world. Before transitioning to Duke TIP, Brian was an award-winning AP English Literature and Composition teacher. He’s passionate about creating educational experiences that engage bright, motivated students and enable them to forge meaningful connections with their peers and with dedicated instructors as they wrestle with big ideas and real-world problems.

Melissa is an Undergraduate Admissions Counselor at Caltech. As a first-generation graduate, she is passionate about mentorship in higher education. In her current role, Melissa primarily oversees access recruitment for Caltech’s office, namely in rural recruitment. She is happy to be here today to talk about the ever-changing college application process.

Megan Cannella is the Director of Outreach at the Davidson Institute, where she has worked since 2019. Before that, she taught college-level humanities courses for almost a decade. Megan's outreach role focuses on advocacy and equity for neurodivergent learners. Contact with Megan at mcannella@davidsongifted.org. 

Professor Greg Dresden has been teaching mathematics at almost every level for almost 40 years, to students in person in California, Texas, Wisconsin, and Virginia, and to students virtually from around the world. He has published dozens of articles and problems, many of them with student co-authors, in journals such as the Fibonacci Quarterly and Mathematics Magazine. Over the years, he has chaired a department, taught in a high school, taught future high-school teachers, graded AP exams, edited textbooks, and helped organize conferences. Currently he lives and works in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Aaron has been part of the Northwestern community since 2003 and is currently responsible for directing all recruitment and admitted student initiatives for undergraduate students at Northwestern. Prior to his current role, he spent much of this time at the University working to grow and diversify the undergraduate international population. Aaron received his bachelor’s degree from the College of the Holy Cross and his M.A. in Higher Education Administration from Boston College. He also completed a Princeton-in-Asia fellowship in Wuhan, China.

Mike graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a B.S. degree in Chemistry and Administration and Management Science.  He is a ‘life-er’ at Carnegie Mellon, having begun his admission career as a tour guide here in 1974 and became Carnegie Mellon’s youngest Director of Admission at age 29 in 1986 and Dean of Admission in 2016.  Mike retired from Carnegie Mellon in June, 2023 after serving for 45 years in college admission at the university. In addition to his role in undergraduate admission, Mike led the Enrollment Strategy Group at Carnegie Mellon and the First Year Financial Aid Operations Group.  He also partnered with the Office of Admission for Carnegie Mellon’s Education City campus in Doha, Qatar.   Mike is a co-organizer of the annual Fitzwilliam Conference on College Admission for secondary school and college admission professionals and Fitzwilliam Experience for Emerging Leaders Conference.  Mike has served as president of the Pennsylvania Association for College Admission Counseling (PACAC) after having served as PACAC membership chair for 4 years and chair of the Conference Planning Committee.  He has also served on the faculty of the PACAC’s Bucknell Summer Institute for new admission and secondary school staff.  He’s served on the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) Committee for Europe, Middle East, and Africa and he chaired the ECIS Americas Committee.  He has also served two 3-year terms as a member at large of Educational Testing Service’s (ETS), Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) Board of Directors. Mike has also served a four-year term as a board member for The Common Application, chairing the board for one year. He has served as a reader for the ETS College Scholarship Service Sponsored Scholarship Program. Mike has also served as co-chair of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) National Task Force on Technology in Admission and Counseling for 3 years. He is a frequent presenter at PACAC, NACAC, College Board, ECIS, CIS and CASE Conferences.  He’s also been a frequent panelist for secondary school college night and parent programs on college admission.  He has also served as a consultant for college and university admission operations and is also a regular international traveler.  

My name is Adam Song and I am currently an information session presenter at Pioneer Academics. I was a Pioneer scholar in 2019, have participated in alumni panels since 2021, and has been a PCA for three years. I recently finished my Masters of Engineering at Imperial College London.

Ryan is a junior at Cornell University, doubling majoring in Classics and Linguistics. He is an alumnus of the Pioneer Research Institute, completing the program during the Spring and Summer of 2020 under the concentration “In Sickness and in Health: Topics in the Sociology and History of Public Health.” He is a Cohort Advisor Coach for Pioneer and serves on the Pioneer Alumni Advisory Board.