Our Staff
Dr. Karen Huxtable-Jester
Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning
Associate Provost
Dr. Karen Huxtable-Jester was appointed director of the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and associate provost in 2022. Huxtable-Jester is also professor of instruction in the Department of Psychology in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. She served as interim director of CTL in 2021 and as associate director of CTL from 2015 to 2020.
Huxtable-Jester is a recognized teacher, and a scholar of teaching and learning. Her knowledge and expertise proved to be invaluable as faculty and students transitioned to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Huxtable-Jester received the Excellence in Teaching Award (2005) and Seniors’ Choice Award (2009) from the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, and The University of Texas System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award (2013). In 2017, Dr. Huxtable-Jester was elected Fellow of The University of Texas System Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Then, in 2019, she was recognized as Piper Professor by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation.
Huxtable-Jester earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a master’s degree in clinical-child psychology and a PhD in developmental psychology from Ohio State University. She joined the UT Dallas faculty in 2000.
Dr. Salena Brody
Associate Director
972-883-4746
salena.brody@utdallas.edu
Dr. Salena Brody is an associate director for the UT Dallas Center for Teaching and Learning.
Brody teaches courses in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences including the Psychology of Prejudice, Workplace Psychology, Social Psychology, Introduction to Psychology, and Intergroup Emotion and Social Change.
Brody is passionate about creating opportunities for relationship rich education on campus. She founded the Short-term Working Group program to bring students and faculty together in short-term collaborative projects.
Brody is known as a joyful teacher and an enthusiastic mentor. The Society for the Psychological Study of Social issues awarded Brody the Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring award, the Innovative Teaching Award, and a Teaching Resource prize. Within the University of Texas system, Brody was awarded the UT Dallas President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Instruction, the UT System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, and she was selected as a fellow in the UT System Academy of Distinguished Teachers.
Brody earned her bachelor’s degree from Boston College and her master’s and doctoral degrees in Social Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Dr. Carol Cirulli Lanham
Associate Director
972-883-2867
cclanham@utdallas.edu
Dr. Carol Cirulli Lanham is an associate director for the UT Dallas Center for Teaching and Learning and a professor of instruction in sociology. She teaches undergraduate courses in sociology, including Classical Social Theory, Introduction to Sociology, Contemporary Social Issues, and Deviance.
As the designated COIL Coordinator at UT Dallas, she helped establish Virtual Exchange/Collaborative Online International Learning (VE/COIL) under the auspices of the Center for Teaching and Learning in 2020. In this role, she assists faculty in integrating VE/COIL into their courses by helping them find partners, providing online training, and offering access to the necessary digital tools.
She is a 2021 recipient of the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award and a member of the University of Texas System Academy of Distinguished Teachers. In 2018, she received the UT Dallas President’s Outstanding Teaching Award in Online/Blended Instruction.
Cirulli Lanham earned her undergraduate degree in government and economics from The University of Texas at Austin and her master’s and doctoral degrees from The University of Texas at Dallas.
Beverly Reed
Administrative Assistant II
972-883-2247
Beverly.Reed@utdallas.edu
Beverly Reed supports the director and associate directors, manages events and projects, and acts as liaison to process the flow of information from faculty, CTL’s team leaders, graduate teaching assistants and staff to ensure the efficient day-to-day operations in the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Reed received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and has more than 25 years of administrative experience.