Maria Dykema Erb, M.Ed. is the Inaugural Executive Director of the Boston University Newbury Center which was established to foster the holistic development and success of first-generation undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. Maria has over three decades of higher education experience having worked at the University of Vermont, Elon University, Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and currently at Boston University.  She has worked in a broad range of areas including Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging; student recruitment/admissions, enrollment management, academic advising, retention, and outreach; academic dean’s office and graduate/professional school program administration; and student affairs/life.

Terra Molengraff is the Program Director of First-Generation Initiatives at the University of Michigan. She graduated with her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota's Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development Graduate Program. Her research focuses on how colleges and universities support FG college students with an emphasis on institutional change agents and organizational change. As a FG college student who attended and graduated from graduate school and now supports FG students, her work focuses on the intersections of the FG identity and how the structures of higher education can be changed to support students.

Dr. Isabell Cserno May is an Associate Professor in the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) where she teaches in and directs the online Science Communication certificate program, in addition to directing the campus-wide Writing Center. Originally a Fulbright scholar from Germany, Dr. May earned her PhD in American Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD). She has worked in various higher education settings in the United States and abroad. Her scholarship focuses on effective pedagogies of academic writing and science communication, and she has published on racism in German and US commercial culture, writing pedagogies, and effective science communication strategies. Dr. May identifies as an individual with immigration background in her home country Germany, a first generation student and scholar, and an immigrant to the US. 

Dr. David Nguyen served as associate professor of higher education and student affairs in Ohio University’s Department of Counseling and Higher Education, interim associate dean for research and graduate studies in the Patton College of Education, and the provost’s faculty fellow for student success.  Since joining Ohio University in August 2016, Nguyen’s teaching and research interests have focused on access and equity issues in postsecondary education. While at OHIO, he has produced more than 60 publications and presentations focused on how campus ecology contributes to student success.

Rebekah Layton, PhD, CMC, PCC (she/her) is the Director of Professional Development Programs at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She develops and directs innovative professional development programs for 1000+ biomedical graduate students and postdoctoral trainees; provides individual professional career coaching and leadership mentoring for trainees; and develops curricula and oversees academic certificates. Rebekah designs, implements, and evaluates a comprehensive professional and career development program housed in the Office of Graduate Education. A published author on professional development and career outcomes and principal investigator of the PhDIRECT Lab (PhD Integrated Research on Education and Career Training), Rebekah is an active scholar in the field of biomedical graduate education and training, has served as a journal guest editor for a special collection on related scholarly work, has co-authored guides to help graduate students navigate academic research and writing, and is an invited speaker nationally on topics around academic research and publishing in her field, in addition to being a regular contributor to Inside HigherEd Carpe Careers column. She is passionate about improving the academic training environment for graduate and postdoctoral trainees using evidence-based research and data-driven solutions supporting trainee skill development to prepare for fulfilling and exciting careers.

Beverly Chen, LCSW is currently the Director, Wellbeing Education and Training.  She designs and leads workshop and classes that promote positive life skills and mindset so students can thrive. Prior to BU, she worked in a variety of settings including Duke Universit and Harvey Mudd College over the past 20 years. She received her Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Michigan. 

Rosemary is passionate about creating spaces that validate and empower students who have been historically and continuously excluded from higher education. Driven by her own experiences as a first-generation, working-class student of color, Rosemary has served as an educator and scholar-practitioner across the Northeastern U.S., including her hometown of New York City in addition to her parent’s homeland of the Dominican Republic. Rosemary earned her M.Ed. in Student Affairs from the University of Maryland, College Park and her B.A. in Environmental and Urban Studies from Bard College. 

Erinn Scott, Psy.D. and Farhad Syed, Psy.D. are clinical psychologists in the Multicultural Health Program (MHCP) at The University of North Carolina's Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). The MCHP program centers the needs of diverse students at UNC through outreach programming, workshops and liaison relationships with campus departments. Drs. Scott and Syed are both proud former first-generation professional students and lead the “First in the Family” first gen support group at UNC CAPS. Drs. Scott and Syed seek to support first-gen college students through clinical work focusing on the psychological interventions that support the first-gen experience on UNC’s college campus. 

Erinn Scott, Psy.D. and Farhad Syed, Psy.D. are clinical psychologists in the Multicultural Health Program (MHCP) at The University of North Carolina's Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). The MCHP program centers the needs of diverse students at UNC through outreach programming, workshops and liaison relationships with campus departments. Drs. Scott and Syed are both proud former first-generation professional students and lead the “First in the Family” first gen support group at UNC CAPS. Drs. Scott and Syed seek to support first-gen college students through clinical work focusing on the psychological interventions that support the first-gen experience on UNC’s college campus. 

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Ali Ramirez serves as the Director of Student Success in the Graduate School at UNC Chapel Hill. In her role, Ali oversees a broad spectrum of student-centered initiatives within the Graduate School to advance overall student success. The Student Success program is geared towards bolstering retention rates, promoting wellness, and facilitating timely degree completion for students from varied backgrounds. Ali was born and raised in El Salvador and moved to South Florida in 2005. Ali graduated with her Master of Education degree from the University of Florida. 

Laura Thorp has more than 9 years of experience working in student affairs, primarily serving graduate and professional students. As the current Director of Student Affairs for The Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and as a first-generation college and graduate student, she is especially passionate about helping graduate students navigate all aspect of the academy and providing "whole-student" support throughout their graduate/professional school journey.

Moshe Cohen teaches negotiation, leadership, and mediation as founder of The Negotiating Table since 1995 and as a senior lecturer at Boston University's Questrom School of Business since 2000. He has taught thousands of students and at companies worldwide, mediated hundreds of disputes, and coached dozens of executives and individuals. He is the author of Collywobbles, How to Negotiate When Negotiating Makes You Nervous; Optimism is a Choice and Other Timeless Ideas; and The Optimistic Pessimist: More Timeless Ideas. Moshe studied Physics at Cornell University, has a Master in Electrical Engineering from McGill University, and an MBA from Boston University.

In my role as Assistant Dean for Academic and Career Development at The Graduate School at UNC-Chapel Hill, I lead workshops and teach courses that develop students’ ability to build their professional brand, communicate their value, and pursue their chosen career. I previously worked with graduate students at NC State University and Duke University and was a faculty member in French. My academic specialization in twentieth-century autobiography informs my work with graduate students who seek to shape their many varied skills and experiences into a coherent professional narrative.

Aixin Yi is a PhD candidate in the History Department, studying Protestant missionary movements in East Asia in the early twentieth century. Her dissertation explores the Christian rural reconstruction movement in southwest China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. 

Brian Rybarczyk oversees CareerWell, The Graduate School's professional and career development initiative that provides trainings and support for students across a range of core competencies that complement students' academic programs. Rybarczyk also directs the Preparing International Teaching Assistants Program (PITAP) which provides training for graduate student instructors new to the U.S. classroom and serves as co-administrative lead for the international network Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL). He supports students' development in teaching skills, mentoring, communication, and leadership. As a first-gen undergraduate and graduate student, he is keenly aware of how to best support other first-gen students.

I am the professional development coach for the Duke University Biomedical PhD students. I am a Board Certified Coach and I work 1:1 with students and facilitate workshops focused on professional development. I enjoy helping people in their 20's to find and pursue their path. In my free time, you'll find me spending time with my family and my pets, listening to music, being in nature, and engaging in creative pursuits. 

We are excited to welcome our keynote speaker, Anthony Abraham Jack. Anthony Abraham Jack is the Inaugural Faculty Director of the Boston University Newbury Center and Associate Professor of Higher Education Leadership at Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. His scholarship appears in the Common Reader, Du Bois Review, Social Problems, Sociological Forum, and Sociology of Education and has earned awards from the American Educational Studies Association, American Sociological Association, Association for the Study of Higher Education, Eastern Sociological Society, and the Society for the Study of Social Problems. In 2020, Muhlenberg College awarded him an honorary doctorate and the National Head Start Association named him a BOLD Alumni Leader for his work in transforming higher education.

The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Nation, American Conservative Magazine, The National Review, The Washington Post, Vice, Vox, and NPR have featured his research and writing as well as biographical profiles of his experiences as a first-generation college student. His first book, The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students, was awarded the 2020 Mirra Komarovsky Book Award, the 2019 CEP Mildred Garcia Award for Exemplary Scholarship, and the Thomas J. Wilson Memorial Prize and was also named a finalist for the 2019 C. Wright Mills Award and a NPR Book’s Best Book of 2019. His second book project, Class Dismissed: When Colleges Ignore Inequality and Students Pay the Price, is due out in August 2024. He received his BA in Women’s and Gender Studies and Religion cum laude from Amherst College and an AM and Ph.D. in Sociology from Harvard University.