A former honors student and undergrad researcher, Chris graduated with a degree in philosophy from Florida State University in the spring of 2013. Chris shifted his focus from pursuing a PhD in philosophy to founding SOC in the spring of 2014, after he and the team realized the need and importance of a nation-wide network to better connect students to experiential learning and high-impact practices. After having a great undergraduate experience himself, Chris developed a passion for helping students make the most of their college experience, and is a big believer in educational technologies that modernize student engagement.

Chris Hyde has spent his career building education technology startups and bringing new technologies to higher education markets. Prior to joining Student Opportunity Center, Chris worked with a number of leading education technology organizations, such as Parchment, Perceptis, Blackboard Student Services, and Presidium. His most notable work has included projects with the Minnesota State System, the Virginia Community College System and the University of Maryland System. Chris lives in Baltimore and oversees the Baltimore League of Historic Preservation.

Dr. Claire E. Jacobson previously served as the director of the National Association of System Heads’ (NASH) Taking Student Success to Scale: High Impact Practices network. In this role, she directed NASH’s $1.2M Lumina-funded project to embed and scale promising High Impact Practices (HIPs) at both the campus and system level with a focus on closing equity gaps for first-generation students and students of color. Claire has spent her career working on student success at the intersection of students’ academic and co-curricular learning. She previously held positions with the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), the University of Maryland, College Park, and Georgetown University. Claire has contributed to foundational research and is nationally recognized as a thought leader on High Impact Practices, equity and assessment, and accelerating change through networks.
She received her Ph.D. in Education Leadership and Policy from the University of Maryland, College Park; her Master’s in English from Georgetown University; and her Bachelor’s in English from Northwestern University.

Paurav graduated with a Masters' degree in Software Engineering from George Mason University. He is passionate about coding and found it to be a very useful tool to solve problems. With over 8 years of experience in programming and software development, Paurav has developed utility tools like a captcha service and an IDE plugin as well as large scale projects such as an event management system. He has also worked on building a crowd sourced development platform and performed several studies for academic research. Paurav joined Student Opportunity Center after recognizing the critical problem it could help solve for students entering an increasingly competitive work force, with little real-world skills and experience.

David was on the early team of BlackBoard, and then went on to become Founder & CEO of Starfish Retention Solutions, which was acquired by Hobsons in 2015. David is an executive with 30 years experience creating and delivering technology solutions that bring about fundamental change in how people make the world better, in the fields of education, earth science, health care, and safety testing. David's last 20 years have focused on education, leading companies which help engage students in new ways to improve their success.

Dr. John C. Cavanaugh is President and CEO of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. The Consortium consists of 14 universities in Washington DC. Previously, he served as Chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and as president of the University of West Florida.

John is a leader in higher education policy and innovation, as well as for innovative uses of technology. He has led statutory and regulatory reform of higher education, and is a national leader on quality assurance and accreditation. John serves as vice chair of the Board of Trustees for the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), an inaugural Fellow of the Center for Strategic Change (at George Fox University), and on the leadership team for the Washington, DC Region Global Cities Initiative. He is past-president of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Board of Trustees, and has served as a Commissioner of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, a Commissioner of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. He has served as member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, as treasurer of the State Higher Education Executive Officers, and as secretary-treasurer of the National Association of System Heads.

Nadia is an analytical, quality and results focused higher education professional with nearly fifteen years of experience in education, study abroad, honors college/honors program administration, curriculum design, and budgeting. She is a passionate advocate of advanced academic programs with strong skills in development and management of initiatives, projects and grants. Nadia is the former director of the St. Petersburg College Honors Program, and a past president of the Southern Regional Honors Council.

Professor Emeritus, NSSE and NILOA Founder, High-Impact Practices Expert

George D. Kuh is Senior Scholar at the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment. He is an Adjunct Research Professor at the University of Illinois, and the Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus of Higher Education at Indiana University. The founding director of the widely used National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), Kuh received the BA from Luther College, MS from St. Cloud State University, and PhD from the University of Iowa. He has written extensively about student engagement, assessment, institutional improvement, and college and university cultures and consulted with more than four hundred colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. In addition to High-Impact Practices (2008) and Ensuring Quality & Taking High-Impact Practices to Scale (2013) produced as part of the AAC&U LEAP initiative, his two most recent books are Student Success in College: Creating Conditions That Matter (2005, 2010) and Piecing Together the Student Success Puzzle: Research, Propositions, and Recommendations (2007). In 2001, he received Indiana University’s prestigious Tracy Sonneborn Award for a distinguished career of teaching and research, the President’s Medal for Academic Excellence, the highest honor the Indiana University president can bestow, and eleven honorary degrees.