FACULTY PROFILES

Patricia Burns (Pat) is a founder of San Miguel Academy, an

independent, middle school for underserved boys in Newburgh, NY. She researched
and authored the feasibility study, which ushered in the school's start-up in 2006. Pat
has been a member of the Board of Trustees since inception and played a pivotal role in
the school's advancement, financial planning, curriculum development and strategic
partnerships. Pat held numerous positions at the school and served on both the
Executive and Finance Committees of the Board of Trustees. She is currently serving
on the Education Committee. Prior to starting San Miguel Academy, Pat taught high
school mathematics at the Harvey School. With an MBA from NYU's Stern School of
Business, Pat worked in banking and the financial services sector for more than a
decade. She decided to combine her business experience with her educational
interests by pursuing a master’s degree in Mathematics Education from Teachers
College. Most recently, Pat obtained a M.Ed. in Independent School Leadership from
the Klingenstein Program at Teachers College. She currently advises clients on all
aspects of school start-ups, including creation of business plans, financial analysis,
securing investors, and human resource allocation.
Courses: School Finance: Resource Allocation for Nonprofits (ORLA 4876)

Michel de Konkoly Thege joined LREI – Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin
High School, a pre-K through 12th grade independent school in lower Manhattan, in
November 2002 first as its Director of Finance and Operations and later as assistant
head of school. Prior to joining LREI, Michel worked in a variety of legal and business
positions at Shearman & Sterling, Rabobank Nederland and The Bond Market
Association, principally in the areas of corporate finance and risk management. In
addition, Michel was on the board of trustees and finance committee of LREI before he
joined LREI. He currently teaches English and history in LREI’s high school. Michel has
also served on a number of accreditation visiting committees for the New York State
Association of Independent Schools, as well as on NYSAIS’s Business Affairs Council
and its Healthcare Consortium Advisory Committee.

Michel has previously served on the boards of the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church in
the East Village and the Children for Children Foundation, now part of the Points of
Light organization, and currently serves on the board of the Cornelia Connelly Center,
an all-girls Catholic middle school in the East Village. He graduated with a B.A. in 1974
from Wesleyan University and with a J.D. in 1978 from the University of Pennsylvania
Law School. He recently completed a master’s degree at Wesleyan.
Courses: School Finance: Resource Allocation for Nonprofits (ORLA 4876)

Nicole L.B. Furlonge, Professor of Practice and Director of the Klingenstein Center,
earned her Ph.D. and BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania. She earned
her M.A. from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Teachers College, Dr. Furlonge
served as Director of Teaching and Learning at the Holderness School, where she
facilitated professional learning for faculty and developed LEARNS (Listening,
Engaging, Asking, Reflecting, Networking, Sharing), a framework for formative
professional learning. She has taught English and served as English Department Chair
and Director of Diversity at several independent schools, including St. Andrew's School
(Delaware), The Lawrenceville School, and Princeton Day School. Dr. Furlonge is the
author of Race Sounds: The Art of Listening in African American Literature, published
by University of Iowa Press. Her book demonstrates listening as an interpretive and
civic act that leads to deeper engagement with difference. Dr. Furlonge has previously
served on the boards of People and Stories/Gente y Cuentos and Village Charter
School in Trenton, NJ. Currently, Dr. Furlonge’s research examines the intersections
between listening, cognitive neuroscience, social justice, and school leadership. She
lives in Yonkers, NY with her spouse and their three children.
Courses: Private School Leadership (ORLA 4071), Practicum (ORLA 5362), Equity,
Inclusion and Strategic School Leadership (ORLA 5199)

Kenneth E. Graves has served in public and Independent schools for

the past decade as an award-winning English teacher, professional developer,
educational technologist, and school leader. Dr. Graves currently serves as the Upper
School (9-12) Ethics & Technology Coordinator at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School
in the Bronx, NY, where leads the academic technology program at the Upper School,
serves as a Form advisor, and teaches in the Ethics department. Kenny's research
leverages cutting-edge quantitative methodologies to investigate the intersection of
technology, school leadership, and social justice with large-scale data. His teaching and
research interests also consider issues in leadership for computer science education,
data-driven/evidence-based leadership practices, equity, ethics, and social issues in
technology leadership in public and private schools, and critical quantitative methods.
He has won several awards for his research, including the TC Walter Sindlinger Award
and a 2016-2017 AERA Dissertation Grant Award. Dr. Graves was named as a
University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA) Clark Scholar in 2018. Kenny
has also served as a consultant to several educational non-profits, including CSNYC,
The Data Science Institute at Columbia, The Center for Technology and School
Change, Code/Interactive, Math for America, and IEEE's Society for the Social
Implications of Technology. Kenny earned his Ph.D. In Education Leadership from
Columbia University in the City of New York. He also holds a M.Phil. in Education
Leadership from Columbia University, a M.A. in Instructional Technology and Media
from Teachers College, Columbia University, and graduated magna cum laude from the
University of Richmond with a B.A. in English, Secondary Education, and Latin
American/Iberian Studies.

Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin is dean of students and lecturer-in-law at

Columbia Law School, where she teaches in the areas of leadership, negotiation,
conflict resolution and deal making. In her role as dean of students at Columbia Law
School, Dean Greenberg-Kobrin oversees the student services office, which is
responsible for student life and events, academic counseling, judicial clerkships, student
journals, student organizations and other student-related matters. Prior to her
appointment at Columbia, Dean Greenberg-Kobrin was an attorney in the corporate and
securities and financial institutions groups at Arnold & Porter, where her practice
included representation of both public and private corporations, funds and financial
institutions. Her work encompasses mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings,
regulatory concerns and compliance issues. She received both her B.A. and J.D. from
Columbia University. She serves on a number of not-for-profit boards and provides pro
bono representation to a number of non-profits in the areas of immigration, micro-
lending, divorce mediation and corporate governance. She lives in Riverdale, New York
with her husband and their four children.
Courses: Negotiation (ORLA 6020)
 Jay P. Heubert is professor of law and education at Teachers College,
Columbia University, and adjunct professor of law at Columbia Law School. He teaches
courses on legal and policy issues in education. His research focuses on civil-rights
issues in K-12 education, including testing and accountability. He is also faculty chair of
the School Law Institute, a professional-education program held at Columbia each
summer. He received his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, and his Ed.D. from
the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Since 1998 he has taught education
students and law students at Teachers College and Columbia Law School, and from
1985-1998 he did likewise at Harvard’s education and law schools. He has received
teaching awards at both universities. He has also served as chief counsel to the
Pennsylvania Dept. of Education, a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S.
Department of Justice, a specialist on desegregation and gender equity in the School
District of Philadelphia, and a high-school English teacher in rural North Carolina. In
1997-1998, he directed a Congressionally-mandated study of high-stakes testing for the
National Academy of Sciences. From 2000-2002, he was a Carnegie Scholar,
conducting research on how promotion testing and graduation testing affect student
learning and life chances, particularly for students of color, English-language learners
and students with disabilities. In June 2001, he received the Harvard Graduate School
of Education’s Alumni Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education.
Courses: Law and Education (EDPA 4086)

Sonya Douglass Horsford is associate professor of education

leadership and senior research associate at the Institute for Urban and Minority
Education (IUME) at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she studies the
history and politics of race, inequality, and leadership in U.S. education. She is the
author of Learning in a Burning House: Educational Inequality, Ideology, and
(Dis)Integration, which was recognized with a Critics Choice Book Award from the
American Educational Studies Association. Her current research focuses on how school
and community learders fulfill the promise of equality of educational opportunity for
neglected and oppressed people. Sonya is an active member of the American
Educational Research Association (AERA) and University Council for Educational
Administration (UCEA). She is the recipient of the 2014 Whitney M. Young Commitment
to Education Equality Award.
Courses: Leadership and Social Justice (ORLA 4198)
 Megan Laverty is associate professor of philosophy and education at
Teachers College, Columbia University. Before joining Teachers College in 2005 she
was assistant professor in the Educational Foundations Department at Montclair State
University. She received her master of arts in philosophy from the University of
Melbourne and her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of New South Wales. As a
philosopher of education, Professor Laverty’s research interest is moral philosophy with
a focus on language, communication and concepts. She has published widely in these
areas with articles forthcoming in Studies in Philosophy and Education, Educational
Philosophy and Theory, and Educational Theory.
Courses: Ethics and Education (A&HF 4192)

Kevin Mattingly has been a science teacher, administrator, and coach for 35 years in
day and boarding schools. Before becoming the current director of the co-curriculum at
Riverdale School (NYC), he was dean of faculty and then director of teaching, learning
& educational partnerships at the Lawrenceville School (NJ). Over the years he has
helped start a school (Mountain School in VT), been a consultant to several systemic
school reform initiatives and worked with over forty schools on curriculum design,
teaching strategies, assessment, and professional learning programs. He has been
involved with a variety of summer academic programs for students including the New
Jersey Scholars, Vermont Governor's Institute on Science and Technology, Hotchkiss
Summer Portals and a number of summer enrichment programs for public school
students from New York City, Philadelphia and Trenton. Dr. Mattingly also has a
background in experiential education and has led students and faculty on trips around
the world. He was a lead teacher in the Klingenstein Center's (Columbia University)
Summer Institute for 17 years and has taught in their year-long and summer master’s
leadership programs for the past 15 years. For the Center he was the primary content
author of the edX MOOC, The Science of Learning--What Every Teacher Should Know,
and has most recently worked with schools in China, Vietnam, Tanzania, and India
incorporating best practice instructional and assessment strategies based on cognitive
science research. He holds a Ph.D. in ecology and a B.A. in biological sciences from
Indiana University.
Courses: Program Leadership (ORLA 5052), The Practical Implications of Learning
Theory for Leadership in Schools (ORLA 4199)

Eliza McLaren is the director of marketing and communications and the founding
director of the Institute for Innovative Teaching and Learning at Rye Country Day
School, a Pre-K through Grade 12 independent school in Westchester, New York. In her
years at RCDS and previously at Roland Park Country School in Baltimore, Maryland,
she has launched and led several school-wide strategic initiatives, taught history at the
middle and high school levels, and coached field hockey, rock climbing, and softball.
She has held a variety of responsibilities relating to admissions, diversity and inclusion,
accreditation, faculty and student leadership development, professional development,
curricular scope and sequence, faculty recruitment/onboarding/retention, and capital
and annual fundraising. Eliza currently teaches an elective entitled Global Issues and
Social Entrepreneurship in the RCDS upper school. Eliza serves on the board of
directors for the Maryland Book Bank and holds a B.A. in history from Barnard College,
an M.A. in teaching social studies from Teachers College, and an M.Ed. in independent
school leadership from the Klingenstein Center. She lives in Rye, New York with her
husband and two children.
Courses: Strategic Marketing for Academic Institutions (ORLA 4874)

Reshan Richards is Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Math, Science, and Technology
department at Teachers College, Columbia University and Associate at Columbia
University’s School of Professional Studies. He is also CEO & Chief Learning Officer at
Explain Everything, which he co-founded and the co-author of Blending Leadership: Six
Simple Beliefs for Leading Online and Off. Reshan has an Ed.D. in Instructional
Technology and Media from Teachers College, Columbia University, an Ed.M in
Learning and Teaching from Harvard University, and a B.A. in Music from Columbia
University. In addition to advising several startup companies, he serves on the board for
Montclair Kimberley Academy in New Jersey and the ISTE Program Committee, and he
previously served on the Apple Distinguished Educators Advisory Board.
Courses: Issues in Educational Technology and Leadership (MSTU 5198)

Rebecca Stilwell is an Organizational Psychologist who independently

consults with schools, districts, and other for- and non-profit organizations. Her work
ranges from managing change, developing school culture, professional collaboration,
leadership development, strategic planning, curriculum design as well as research and
evaluation. She is dedicated to working collaboratively with stakeholders in
organizations to co-create and implement comprehensive change plans for
organizational development. Prior to becoming an Organizational Psychologist,
Rebecca taught in public, private, and international schools. Her current research
focuses on leader behaviors that support effective change and approaches to change in
education. Rebecca earned her Ph.D and M.A. in Social-Organizational Psychology at
Teachers College, Columbia University and her B.A. in Psychology at the University of
California, Los Angeles.
Courses: Research (ORL 5521)