Dr. Kemi Jona is the Vice Provost for Online Education and Digital Innovation at University of Virginia (UVA). At UVA, Dr. Jona works to advance the university’s strategic goals by collaborating with both internal and external partners to unlock new programs and initiatives through digital innovation. He also leads effors to refine and implement the University’s digital education strategy, helping to shape UVA’s vision for online education.
Formerly, Dr. Jona was Assistant Vice Chancellor for Digital Innovation and Enterprise Learning at Northeastern University. He led the design and development of new highly-scalable digital experiential learning platforms and enterprise partnerships to support seamless, lifelong learning pathways for all learners. He was also the founding director of the Lowell Institute School serving working adult learners pursuing STEM degrees.
Dr. Jona has worked at the forefront of the learning sciences and learning technologies fields for over 25 years. He is a thought leader in applying insights from cognitive and learning sciences to the design of technology-supported learning environments, particularly in the areas of STEM education. He has worked with leading universities—including Northeastern, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Columbia, and Northwestern—on the development of innovative online programs.
In his prior position as Professor of Learning Sciences and Computer Science at Northwestern University, he led a broad portfolio of research and development projects in STEM curriculum and learning technologies, tools for online science and remote labs, computational thinking, and new game-based approaches to engaging youth in STEM and STEAM (STEM+arts/design). He was the founding Director of Northwestern’s Office of STEM Education Partnerships (now Office of Community Education Partnerships) an organization that connects the university to the K-12 community to advance STEM education. He is also a member of the advisory board of ARIS (formerly National Alliance for Broader Impacts), a nationwide organization that advances the field of research outreach and public engagement with science.
In addition to his work at Northwestern University, Dr. Jona acts as advisor and consultant to industry, non-profits, school districts, and federal, state, and local agencies on strategic process and learning-related issues, curriculum redesign, teacher professional development, and STEM education and outreach. He was invited to testify to the House Committee on Space, Science, and Technology in January 2014 and has also served on the board of directors of the International Association of K-12 Online Learning from 2009-2013.
Dr. Jona is a frequent invited speaker at industry and education conferences, having given over 50 invited talks. He is the author or co-author of over 100 articles, book chapters, conference presentations, white papers, and reports on the topics of learning technologies, STEM education, online and blended learning. He holds a Ph.D in Computer Science from Northwestern University and a BS with Honors in Computer Science and Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.