Founding Members

(in alphabetical order)

Dr. Jon-Hans Coetzer, Senior Programme Specialist and Team Leader of the Online Learning and Education Unit, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).
Dr. Coetzer is a senior higher education manager with over 25 years of experience in higher education. Focusing on instructional design and programme management, delivery and assessment practices, and academic and quality assurance management in the ever-changing landscape of higher education. (more…)


He also worked as Project Coordinator in Strategic Crisis Management Training for the Swiss Federal Presidency in Bern from 2010 – 2015. Jon-Hans has also worked as senior delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) responsible for training the armed forces in the Law of War and the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols, during 1995 – 2002, in more than fifteen countries at war. He currently serves as Team Leader for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), including establishing collaborative partnerships with institutions of higher education and universities focusing on Inclusive Pedagogy, Business, Conflict, Peace and Sustainable Development Studies.

Jon-Hans’ research interests focus on the cross-cultural challenge of framing attuned leadership in the international classroom for positive change in higher education for sustainable development in the 21st century, including developing transformational learning for delivering results within the UN 2030 Agenda-framework through advocating for more inclusive pedagogical practices. He continues to publish academic papers and essays, including participating in conferences. Jon-Hans led the planning of UNITAR’s First International Research Conference hosted at the UN Bonn Campus in November 2023 focusing on the Climate Security: Peace and Security Consequences of Climate Change.

Dr. Vaughan Connolly, Director, Glenlead Centre.
Vaughan holds an MPhil and a PhD in Education from the University of Cambridge and has previously taught Computer Science. As a former head of eLearning and director of IT, he is interested in technology and innovation in education and conducts research into education policy. Vaughan’s recent research has investigated issues such as time use in schools, and teacher workload and retention. Most recently, he contributed to UNESCO’s Global report on teachers: addressing teacher shortages and transforming the profession.

Dr. Isabel Fischer, Professor of Digital Innovation, University of Warwick.
Dr. Fischer’s research focuses on digital technologies, education, and social inclusion. Central to her research is the exploration of effective digital teaching and learning concepts across disciplines and an emphasis on using digital tools to contribute to fairness in education. Recently, Isabel led Warwick’s AI in education work, including the development of a personalised AI-based formative feedback tool for students’ written assessments.

Dr. Ann Kristin Glenster, Executive Director, the Glenlead Centre.
Dr. Glenster a legal expert on data protection, privacy, cybersecurity, intellectual property, and data and AI regulation and governance. She is Technology and Human Rights Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and an affiliate of the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law (CIPIL) at the University of Cambridge. (more…)


Ann Kristin holds a PhD in Law from the University of Cambridge and conducted doctoral research at the Harvard Law School. She has taught at London School of Economics, Brown University, Harvard University, University of Oxford, and University of Cambridge. For the last three years she has been a Senior Policy Advisor on Technology Governance and Law at the University of Cambridge Minderoo Centre of Technology and Democracy. She is also a Strategic Legal Consultant to the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE).

Dr. Claire Gordon (PFHEA), Director, Eden Centre for Education Enhancement, LSE.
The Eden Centre leads on academic staff development, curriculum enrichment, digital innovation and inclusive practice at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Claire is also a member of several university educational committees, convenor of forums for education leaders and founding advisory editor of the LSE Higher Education Blog. (more…)


Dr. Gordon jointly spear-headed the School’s educational response to the Covid pandemic, Curriculum Shift 2020/2022, and is collaborating in leading the School’s response to generative AI and education. In summer 2024, she co-led a project with colleagues at LSE and KCL to develop a Manifesto for the Essay in the Age of AI. Additionally, Claire chairs the Governing Board of the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity at LSE. Claire’s interests include academic leadership, reward and recognition in higher education, the tensions between policy and practice in academic development, and the synergies between research and education.

Before joining the Eden Centre, Claire spent a decade at LSE’s European Institute researching and teaching on transition, EU enlargement and emerging political economies in Central and Southeast Europe. She has also contributed to several higher education and research capacity-building projects in the Western Balkans.

Dominik Lukeš, Lead Business Technologist, AI and ML Competency Centre at the University of Oxford.
Dominik previously founded and ran Oxford’s Reading and Writing Innovation Lab. Dominik is the author of Oxford report: “Beyond ChatGPT: State of AI in Education“, and he developed an AI Task Evaluation framework. (more…)


He publishes the AI in Academic Practice Newsletter on LinkedIn. He is an invited keynote speaker at conference on implementing AI in education, and serves on advisory boards such as the Higher Education Editorial Advisory Board for MacGraw Hill and the Bett UK Advisory Board. Dominik has a background in computational linguistics and NLP going back to 1990s.

Dr. René Moolenaar, Associate Professor (Snr. Lecturer) of Strategy at the University of Sussex Business School.
René is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of the University of Queensland and a Non-Executive Director and Board Advisor to a small number of organisations.

Dr. Ari Seligmann, Professor, Monash University.
Professor Seligmann is currently Academic Lead AI in Education within the Deputy Vice Chancellor Education portfolio at Monash University and Associate Dean Education for the Art Design and Architecture Faculty. He is also a critic, historian and designer engaged in studies of contemporary architecture and urbanism, Japanese architecture, and relations between architecture and media.