Michael Palmer joined the Center for Teaching Excellence in the Fall of 2003. As director, he leads a dynamic team committed to supporting efforts to expand equity-informed and inclusive teaching praxis; improve students' learning, engagement, and sense of belonging; and increase instructors' joy in teaching. His educational development research is broad and has focused on topics such as teaching consultation techniques, graduate student professional development, course design initiatives and the impact intense instructional development activities have on teacher beliefs and practices, alternative grading techniques, and pedagogical innovation. His scholarly work and professional contributions have been recognized nationally by the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD Network), including three Innovation Awards, the Robert J. Menges Award for Outstanding Research in Educational Development, and the Bob Pierleoni Spirit of POD Award, the organization's highest award, akin to a lifetime achievement award. Michael currently teaches 1st- and 2nd-year seminars on the science of learning, pedagogy, "living your best college life," and infinity. His co-authored book, Developing High-impact Course Design Institutes: A Model for Change, was published in early 2025.

Cassandra Volpe Horii, Ph.D., serves as the associate vice provost for education and director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Stanford University. Before joining Stanford in February 2022, Horii served as the assistant vice provost and founding director of the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Outreach at Caltech, where she led efforts to advance and support inclusive, evidence-based teaching across disciplines. She was a founding member of the National Academies Roundtable on Systemic Change in Undergraduate STEM Education from 2018 to 2024, and served as president of the POD Network in Higher Education in 2018-19. Her prior institutional roles have included inaugural dean of the faculty at Curry College in Milton, MA, where she created the Faculty Center, and associate director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University.

As a first-generation student in higher education, Horii earned a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a doctorate in atmospheric chemistry in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science from Harvard University. She has taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses on university teaching and learning in STEM, atmospheric science, environmental chemistry, expository writing, and sustainability. Her scholarship has addressed topics such as the roles of centers for teaching and learning in institutional change and accreditation, the experiences of faculty with disabilities, inclusive and equity-minded teaching and mentoring, educational spaces and technologies, teaching consultation methods, and projects related to writing and visual rhetoric in higher education.

Dr. Tracie Marcella Addy (she/her) is the founding director of the Institute for Teaching, Innovation, and Inclusive Pedagogy, launched in 2024. An experienced and accomplished professional in educational development, she oversees the mission and operations of the Institute.