By James DeVaney, Associate Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and Founding Executive Director of the Center for Academic Innovation

At the Center for Academic Innovation, we’re building a future where education connects and empowers learners everywhere to reach their full potential throughout their lives. Bringing that vision to life requires us to continually evolve, anticipating shifts in higher education and the changing ways people want to learn. Higher education is undergoing profound change as learners seek more flexible, engaging, and immersive learning methods. With new technologies and pedagogical models emerging, we have unprecedented opportunities to reimagine how we create and deliver transformative learning experiences.

To meet this moment, we’re adding two new leaders who will help us design the future of learning. I’m thrilled to welcome Patrice Torcivia Prusko as our new Director of Learning Design and Julien DePauw as our new Director of the Educational Technology Accelerator.

Their arrival comes at a pivotal time for our center as we expand the reach of Michigan Online, establish a new educational technology accelerator, strengthen relationships across the university and with mission-aligned industry partners, and embrace the power of AI to transform the learning experience. Patrice and Julien bring deep expertise in innovation, learning design, and online education from leading institutions like Harvard University, Cornell University, Tecnológico de Monterrey, and the University of Michigan.

Patrice Torcivia Prusko, Director of Learning Design

As the director of learning design, Patrice will lead a team responsible for creating engaging, research-driven learning opportunities for global learners and organizational partners. She will guide the center’s design strategy to ensure that every course, program, and learning experience we build reflects the evolving needs of learners and educators alike.

Patrice will collaborate closely with instructional designers, faculty innovators, and academic leaders across U-M’s schools and colleges. She will also partner with organizations across the education technology ecosystem to explore emerging tools and pedagogical models that enhance engagement and equity in learning.

Prior to joining the Center for Academic Innovation, Patrice spent more than two decades leading academic innovation, instructional design, and digital learning strategy at Harvard University, Cornell University, and the State University of New York Empire State College. At Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, she led AI-driven transformation initiatives that streamlined course development, strengthened design standards, and built data-informed frameworks for learning design.

Julien DePauw, Director of Educational Technology Accelerator

As director of the educational technology accelerator, Julien will lead a new team focused on evaluating, experimenting with, and implementing technologies that enhance learning across U-M’s residential and online environments. His work will connect external partners with internal innovators to accelerate the adoption of tools that make learning more effective, personalized, and scalable.

Julien’s team will also support the center’s portfolio of technologies, including Atlas, which helps U-M students explore courses and design their schedules; Gamut, a suite of tools that extends online learning capabilities across platforms; and our Extended Reality (XR) initiatives that create immersive, hands-on learning experiences.

Julien joins the center after nearly three years as director of online learning and academic innovation at U-M’s School for Environment and Sustainability. With more than 15 years of experience across the U.S., Latin America, and Europe, he has led the design and scaling of programs ranging from open online courses to certificates, boot camps, and microlearning platforms.

Building Toward the Future of Lifelong Learning

The addition of Patrice and Julien reflects the university’s continued investment in innovation, online learning, alternative credentials, and student success, which serve as core pillars of our mission to expand access and enhance impact. Their leadership will accelerate our efforts to design the future of lifelong learning, advancing Michigan’s position as a global leader in digital education, AI-enhanced learning, and immersive experiences that meet learners where they are.

Together with the center’s growing leadership team, they will help us extend Michigan’s reach, deepen our partnerships across industries and institutions, and create new pathways for learners of all ages to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

We are thrilled to welcome them to our community and look forward to what we’ll create together as we continue shaping the next chapter of academic innovation at the University of Michigan.