Dr. Gwen Tarbox named director of Scholarly Teaching

Illinois State University's Office of the Provost has named Dr. Gwen Tarbox as the new Director of Scholarly Teaching within the Center for Integrated Professional Development (CIPD), effective July 1, 2026. She will be responsible for overseeing professional development programming and support aimed at advancing evidence-based teaching practices across the institution and will report to Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs, Dr. Russ Morgan.

"I am pleased to welcome Gwen as our new Director of Scholarly Teaching and Learning in CIPD," said Morgan. "She brings an exceptional record of leadership, strategic planning, and advocacy surrounding innovative and inclusive teaching to this role."

In this role, Tarbox will serve as a lead expert resource on teaching and learning in higher education, driving initiatives related to inclusive excellence, faculty mentoring, and student success, while contributing to the national conversation on educational and faculty development.

"I have spent my career at the intersection of faculty success and student success, and what I found at ISU was an institution that understands that connection deeply," Tarbox said. "The Scholarly Teaching area's commitment to evidence-based practice and the collaborative spirit that runs through everything it does make this a truly exciting place to continue my career."

Tarbox comes to Illinois State University from the University of Connecticut, where she served as University Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). In that role, she developed a unified strategic direction for faculty and graduate instructor support across UConn's five campuses, while also expanding the university's commitment to STEM pedagogy research. Her areas of expertise include equitable and accessible teaching practices and the impact of emerging technologies on higher education.

Prior to joining UConn, Tarbox directed the Office of Faculty Development at Western Michigan University where she held a faculty appointment as professor of English. At WMU, her team built one of the region's most active educational development programs: workshop series events drew hundreds of participants from within WMU and from peer institutions across North America, and her unit's proactive and comprehensive response to the emergence of Generative AI was later featured on NPR's Science Friday. A recipient of WMU's Distinguished Teaching Award, Tarbox's scholarly publications include a Choice award-designated monograph on Progressive-era girls' fiction, a monograph on children's and young adult comics, and articles on university teaching.

Tarbox earned a bachelor's degree in political science and English from the University of Michigan, a master's degree in modern literature from the University of London, and both a master's degree and a Ph.D. in English from Purdue University.