Academic Leadership
Wentworth is committed to leading on learning and student success at the national level. Our faculty across our five schools treat the classroom, studio and lab as an incubator for new ways of thinking and as an accelerator for student potential. Guided by our values of inclusive excellence and our commitment to a transformative student experience we:
- Engage our students in high-impact, high-value learning on campus, in the field and online.
- Focus on the development and growth of our students, personally and professionally.
- Create next-generation partnerships that advance student learning, development and growth.
Provost Office
Sophia A. Maggelakis, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Provost
Dr. Sophia Maggelakis assumed the role of Executive Vice President and Provost at the Wentworth Institute of Technology in the fall of 2022. Prior to this appointment, she dedicated thirteen years to the position of Dean of the College of Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology, following a successful nine-year tenure as the Head of RIT’s School of Mathematical Sciences. Dr. Maggelakis is recognized for her adept leadership, fostering collaborative relationships with faculty and staff across various initiatives.
Maggelakis has published book chapters, refereed journal articles, and presented numerous papers at national and international conferences in her research specialty of mathematical biology. She has also received awards for her teaching and diversity advocacy and has a track record of supporting faculty and staff while launching schools, institutes and programs at RIT, such as the Integrated Sciences Academy, the Summer Math Institute, the Center for Advancing Science/Math Teaching, Learning, and Evaluation (CASTLE), and the Women in Science program.
Maggelakis earned her Ph.D. and M.S. in Computational and Applied Mathematics and B.S. in Mathematics from Old Dominion University. She also completed the Harvard Institute for Management and Leadership in Education program.
Joe Martel-Foley, Ph.D.
Vice Provost for Academic Innovation
Dr. Martel-Foley joined Wentworth as an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering in 2015 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020. He co-chaired the High-Value Learning Working Group during the recent strategic planning process. He chaired the Enrollment and Admissions Subcommittee of the faculty senate and co-led the process resulting in the University electing to utilize test-optional admissions. He has taken part in a variety of student-focused efforts in advising, student success, and retention leading an advising initiative and championing the use of the Navigate advising platform. He was honored by our students with the President’s Award for Excellence in Advising. This summer, he spearheaded the launch of the Wentworth Engineering Honors Society, celebrating the achievements of students across engineering disciplines. His focus on student success and inclusive excellence also show up in his research, where he has been studying the introduction of bias education in foundational engineering courses as well as the integration of cross-college undergraduate research into coursework and design experiences. Dr. Martel-Foley received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Union College, and master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering science from Harvard University.
Susan G. Duffy, Ph.D.
Associate Provost for Transformational Learning and Partnerships
Dr. Susan G. Duffy is the associate provost for Transformational Learning and Partnerships, and an Associate Professor in the School of Management.
Duffy collaborates across the university and beyond, providing overall leadership to Co-ops & Careers, Accelerate: Innovation + Entrepreneurship Center, Work Force Development and Professional Education, and the Women@Wentworth Undergraduate Leadership Program. She is a self-described entrepreneurial educator who builds high-impact collaborations that serve an ecosystem of students, stakeholders, institutions, and society. Her work spans diverse sectors including life science, professional services, engineering, robotics, and education.
Prior to joining Wentworth, Duffy served as the Executive Director of the Babson College Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership and Faculty Director of the Babson Executive Education Inclusive Leadership Portfolio. She built a sustainable and extensive portfolio of educational assets including a nationally recognized women’s leadership scholar program for undergraduates, the award-winning Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab venture accelerator, and the Leadership Program for Women and Allies professional education suite.
Duffy earned her Ph.D. from The George Washington University, is a member of the prestigious Wilford White Fellows of the International Council for Small Business, and received the 2019 Practitioner of the Year award from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. She is an active member of the Tory Burch Foundation board and volunteers at Women’s Lunch Place in Boston, Mass.
Robbin Beauchamp
Assistant Provost, Center for Cooperative Education and Career Development
Robbin Beauchamp joined Wentworth Institute of Technology as Director of Cooperative Education and Career Development in Boston in September 2014 with over 25 years of college career services and human resources experience. She grew up in Winsted, Connecticut and went to Emerson College for her Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communication and Television Production. She obtained her Masters degree in Administration/Organizational Policy from Boston University. Robbin previously worked in Career Services at Stonehill College and was the Director of the Career Center at Roger Williams University. Prior to working in higher education, Robbin worked in Human Resources for 10 years as a Recruiter, Trainer, Benefits Administrator and Manager.
Robbin is a frequent presenter at professional association conferences on topics such as leadership, neurodiversity and closing the wage gap. Robbin has been recognized numerous times by the Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers, where she served on the board and co-chaired an annual conference, for her many contributions to her profession. In addition to earning her degrees, Robbin has completed the National Association of Colleges and Employers week-long Management Leadership Institute and their Career Coaching Intensive. Robbin was in the inaugural class of the Career Leadership Collective’s Mastermind, a nine-month program specifically for chief career services officers. Robbin holds the designation of Global Career Development Facilitator and is a certified Life, Career, Executive and Woman’s Empowerment Coach.
Mary McCormack
Assistant Provost for Student Success
Mary McCormack is the Assistant Provost for Student Success, playing a heavy role in the development and implementation of the new Success Studio, a central hub dedicated to helping Wentworth students thrive through the provision of Academic Support and Advising Services.
McCormack previously served as the Dean of Student Success for Wheelock College. She holds a Master of Science in College Student & Development and Counseling from Northeastern University, and a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from Wheelock College.
Lisa Keating
Assistant Provost, Institutional Effectiveness & Planning
Lisa Keating joined Wentworth as the Assistant Provost for Institutional Effectiveness & Planning in early 2022, bringing twelve years of institutional effectiveness and institutional accreditation experience to Wentworth. Her expertise involves data and survey analysis, and her goal is to encourage the campus community to use data in the development of strategies to advance student success. Ms. Keating is a nominating committee member for the Northeast Association for Institutional Research.
Prior to entering the higher education field, Ms. Keating worked as a Managing Consultant with Dock Square Consultants, Inc., a B2B market research firm in Faneuil Hall, and as Chief-of-Staff for a Massachusetts Legislator. She earned a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an M.B.A. from Boston College.
Jane Allen
Executive Assistant to the Provost
Jane Allen is the Operations Manager for the Office of the Provost. She has 17 years of experience at Wentworth. Prior to moving to the Provost’s Office in 2006, she was the Assistant to the Chair of the Civil Engineering department. Jane provides effective administrative support to the Office of the Provost. She collaborates with other members of the academic leadership and is responsible for coordinating communications for Academic Affairs. Jane served for over ten years on the University’s commencement committee. She received a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Deans
John Cribbs, MArch, Ph.D.
Dean, School of Management
Cribbs obtained his MArch degree from the Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts, as well as a Ph.D. in Construction Management from the Del E. Webb School of Construction, both located at Arizona State University's flagship campus in Tempe, AZ.
His research focuses on modular design and construction techniques, sustainability of the built environment, and Building Information Modeling (BIM) workflows for improved quality control and labor time utilization. He has presented his work at national and international conferences, covering topics such as modular and offsite construction techniques, BIM, pedagogical models for construction industry training, and research findings applicable to the broader industry.
Prior to joining Wentworth, Cribbs worked as a principal at Green Ideas Building Science Consultants in Phoenix. During his time there, he extensively utilized BIM workflows for design analysis, reporting, and review, collaborating with various project stakeholders. He has also taught undergraduate and graduate courses in design, construction management, and Building Information Modeling at Arizona State University and the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture (Taliesin West).
Cribbs holds multiple accreditations, including being a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional (AP) in specialties such as Building Design and Construction (BD+C), Interior Design and Construction (ID+C), and Operations and Maintenance (O+M). Additionally, he is accredited by the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) as a Construction Documents Technologist (CDT).
Sedef Doganer, Ph.D.
Dean, School of Architecture and Design
Dr. Sedef Doganer joined Wentworth in September 2021 as the Dean of the School of Architecture and Design. She comes to Wentworth from the University of Texas at San Antonio (2008– 2021), where she served as department chair and associate dean of Design, Inclusion and Engaged Scholarship.
Doganer believes higher education is about transformation. She is passionate about student success and positively impacting students’ lives, as well as design education enriching quality of life in communities. She advocates for preparing students as global professionals, and resourceful, self-directed, strong leaders who are ready for the challenging future of our world, society and profession.
During her leadership at UTSA, Doganer partnered with faculty and staff to initiate new programs, dual degrees, and certificates in order to better prepare students as future professionals and practitioners in a rapidly changing workplace. Her work helped build a great sense of community within the school and beyond, leading to higher engagement, more trust and stronger relationships between colleagues, alumni, professional community and our partners. She additionally initiated international collaborations, projects, and workshops with Mexico, Turkey, Colombia, Turkmenistan, and South Korea.
Doganer studies the nexus of architecture and tourism, and her recent research focuses on heritage tourism, historic preservation, cultural heritage management, and community-based, sustainable tourism development in an interdisciplinary fashion. She is the author/coauthor of 44 papers in journals, books and conference proceedings, and recipient of a total of $900,610 research and instructional funds as PI, co-PI, and co-leading instructor. Doganer received bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in architecture from Istanbul Technical University.
Michael Farmer, Ph.D.
Dean, School of Computing & Data Science
Dr. Michael Farmer joined Wentworth Institute of Technology as Dean of the School of Computing and Data Science in April 2025. He brings extensive academic and industry experience, with a background that spans computer science, physics, and engineering.
Prior to joining Wentworth, Dr. Farmer served as Department Head and Professor of Computer Science at Kettering University, where he led the development of academic programs in artificial intelligence and applied data science. He also held leadership roles at the University of Michigan–Flint, where he helped launch interdisciplinary initiatives in health informatics and computer gaming.
Before entering academia, Dr. Farmer spent two decades in industry—ten years in aerospace and ten in automotive—and holds 25 patents for innovative product development. His research interests include applications of Chaos Theory in computer vision and cybersecurity, and human cognitive models in AI.
Dr. Farmer earned a BS in Applied Physics from Columbia University, MS degrees in Physics and Management of Technology, and a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from Michigan State University.
Thaddeus Guldbrandsen, Ph.D.
Dean, School of Sciences and Humanities
Dr. Thaddeus Guldbrandsen joined Wentworth in July 2022 as Dean of the School of Sciences and Humanities and Professor of Anthropology. His commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and environmental sustainability is at the heart of his life-long mission as a teacher, scholar, consultant, and administrator.
Guldbrandsen brings to Wentworth two decades of higher education experience as faculty member, research center director, and administrator at the University of New Hampshire, the Plymouth State University, and King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST). He also served more than two dozen universities, colleges, and schools across the United States and Asia as a higher education consultant.
His faculty background is in anthropology and environmental science and policy. The question that runs through his scholarly work and informs his administrative leadership is: How do people work together to improve their communities in the face of seemingly daunting global economic and environmental challenges? That core question is threaded through his work on community development and economic change in the American South and New England, transnational migration in New England, Germany, and Vietnam, and the evolving role of education in the US and the Middle East.
Guldbrandsen earned his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in anthropology from the University of New Hampshire and his doctoral degree in anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Ali Khabari, Ph.D.
Dean, School of Engineering
Dr. Ali Khabari is a professor and the dean of the School of Engineering. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Florida International University. Prior to his current position at Wentworth, he served as an associate dean, interim dean of the former College of Engineering and Computer Science, a department chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and a program coordinator.
Dr. Khabari’s area of expertise is nanostructured materials with his publications appearing in numerous respected journals, and his work has been cited by more than 56 different refereed international journals, books, patents and dissertations from 23 different countries. Dr. Khabari is the recipient of several external grants from the U.S. Department of Education, Sweeney Foundation, Lufkin's Foundation, and Webster's Foundation, which led to the development of Wentworth Nanotechnology Laboratory. He is the recipient of the President’s Award for Distinguished Scholarship and is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the American Vacuum Society (AVS), the Electrical and Computer Engineering Honor Society, Eta Kappa Nu, and the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.