Click here for latest wins by FNI including projects in Brunei, Tanzania, Oman and Texas.
Tomorrow’s School – Beyond Yesterday’s Classroom
Check out these inspiring images of 21st century schools compiled by Prakash Nair
“Exploring Six Principles of Sustainable School Design” – Randy Fielding for WISE
First two of 100 schools Master Planned and Designed by FNI opens in Puerto Rico
FNI Selected by Nationally Acclaimed American School of Bombay, India
FNI Selected by Prestigious Al-Batinah International School, Oman
FNI Selected as Master Planners for Cleveland-Heights-University Heights School District in Ohio
FNI Selected as Planners and Design Architects for STEAM Middle School in Greenville, S. Carolina
FNI Completes Visioning Work for School Districts in Montana and Ontario
EXCITING NEW PROJECT WINS BY FNI!
FNI selected by Bloomfield Hills Schools (MI) to lead the community through Facilitation, Planning and Design for their New High School.
Prakash Nair Featured in “Education World Magazine” for his Dedication in Transforming India’s Education Landscape
FNI’s Senior Designer, Mariana Boctor, featured in “Cocotte Design”: Designing the NextGen Schools — Just Like Home
FNI Appointed as Master Planners for $800 Million Puerto Rico School Modernization Program
FNI Projects Win Two International Awards
FNI’s innovative approach to school design featured in North American Design Magazine
FNI’s Arcola Community School design featured in Regina Leader-Post.
FNI Selected to serve as Planning and Design Consultant for TJHSST – America’s #1 High School.
Fully Revised 2nd Edition of Language of School Design is now available.
Sinarmas World Academy by FNI Awarded Prestigious Project of Distinction Award in Washington DC.
FNI to partner with India’s Yash Birla Group in a venture that will develop 300+ new schools
Designing Schools for 21st Century Learners
In this film, architect Randall Fielding demonstrates the connection between where and how students learn in the 21st century.
Don’t Just Rebuild Schools—Reinvent Them
“If we simply repair broken structures, we will ignore the real problems with American education while giving renewed life to a model of teaching and learning that has been obsolete since the end of the industrial era.”.
FNI’s Scotch Oakburn College Middle School Project in Launceston, Tasmania has Opened. Details
Randy Fielding interviewed Phorecast: “We need to teach our kids skills, not subjects!” Click here to listen to podcast
End-of-Year News: Several Exciting New Project Wins in Canada, USA, Malaysia and Abu Dhabi. Details
Mid-Year News Update: New projects, EFEI launch and publications. Details
The Cristo Rey Jesuit High School & Colin Powell Youth Leadership Center has been awarded. Details
Randall Fielding awarded CEFPI International Planner of the Year Details
Microsoft Taps FNI For Key Role in Global Innovative Schools Program Details
Cristo Rey Jesuit High School and Colin Powell Youth Leadership Center in operation in Minneapolis. Details
Health and Fitness Centre Opens at Scotch Oakburn College. Details
Groundbreakings on Cayman Islands.Details
A Comfortable Truth – 8 Truths about Comfort in Schools. Click here for link to new article.
FNI Adds several new consultants and expands service offerings.
Click here for details.
Building Futures – Video Interview with Prakash Nair
Click here to see video.
Randall Fielding Interviewed on Charlotte Radio
Click here for streaming audio or download MP3 files to your desktop.
Randy Fielding interviewed on WCCO radio: “Human Rights and Design for Learning”
Click here for streaming audio or download MP3 files to your desktop.
New Project Wins
in 7 American states, and 6 countries. Details
The Language of School Design – New book by Nair and Fielding.
Fielding Returns from Sri Lanka and Heads to Azerbaijan and Australia Details
Dr. Lackney criss-crosses land to lead design efforts on behalf of FNI – Details
Nair’s Latest trip covers 5 Australian States, Thailand and Singapore Details
Nair Returns from Planning & Design Consultation Workshops in 4 Australian States and Singapore Details
Nair in Australia – Nair to Keynote Australian Conference in April 2005. Details
Fielding in Singapore and Australia Details
Nair in Alaska Details
Fielding at NAF – Randy Fielding addresses National Audience at NAF Conference in New York. Details
Better Schools for Ohio – State of Ohio hires FNI to conduct detailed study of school designs. Details
FNI Wins MacConnell Award – Reece School in Tasmania Australia by FNI is MacConnell Award winner! Details
Click Below for Resumes:
Randall Fielding, AIA
Chairman, Fielding Nair International, LLC
Randy oversees FNI’s primary mission: to improve learning by serving as a world leader in the creation of new and renovated educational campuses that are in consonance with best practices, current research and reflect 21st century learning modalities. Randy’s experience spans from early childhood to the university level, and includes international guidelines on school design. The common thread is an integrated approach to pedagogy and design — student learning and outcomes always come first.
Randy’s achievements have earned him more than a dozen design awards from the American Institute of Architects, The Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI), the American Association of School Administrators, and School Planning and Management Magazine. He is internationally recognized as an authority on innovative school design and received the CEFPI Planner of the Year Award in 2007—the most prestigious honor of any individual in the field of educational design. He has been selected to serve as an architect, consultant, presenter and/or keynote speaker in Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Finland, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, the Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Spain, Switzerland, the United States and Tanzania.
One of Randy’s “signatures” is his ability to come down off of the podium, sharing ideas with government leaders, educators, and students with equal passion. This spirit of sharing extends to two million people each year, through DesignShare.com, an online forum for innovative learning environments that Randy founded in 1998. He continues to serve as DesignShare’s editorial director, but the focus of his work is to lead communities in the design of environmentally responsive campuses that foster personalized learning and strong connections to the community.
Randy’s design work leverages more than 500 case studies from 30 countries — the largest library of innovative school designs in the world. The interactive planning and design process pioneered by FNI is also grounded in a seminal book that Randy co-authored with Prakash Nair, entitled The Language of School Design. The book establishes key learning modalities for success in the post-information society, and provides a series of design patterns to support these modalities. Randy uses the design patterns as a tool in evaluating existing and proposed facilities, and as a launching point for developing customized solutions for each individual community, campus, school or district that he works with. In addition to serving as a lead design architect, teamwork underpins all of Randy’s work, which takes him around the world to collaborate with public and private institutions, educators, developers, and local architects.
Contact Randall Fielding at Randy@FieldingNair.com.
Contact Randall Fielding
A more detailed bio for Randall Fielding
Prakash Nair, REFP
President, Fielding Nair International, LLC
Prakash Nair is the President and Founding Partner of Fielding Nair International. He is a futurist, a visionary planner, architect and one of the world’s leading change agents in school design. He is also the Managing Editor of DesignShare.com which attracts over two million visitors each year. He is the recipient of several international awards including the prestigious CEFPI MacConnell Award, the top honor worldwide for school design.
He has written extensively in leading international journals about school design and educational technology and their connection to established educational research. He is also the author of two guidebooks on school planning including the landmark publication, The Language of School Design which he co-authored with Randall Fielding.
Prior to co-founding Fielding Nair International, Prakash worked for 10 years as Director of Operations for a multi-billion dollar school construction program for New York City.
In 2003, Prakash completed a project with the University of Wisconsin on a Rockefeller Foundation-funded grant to develop international best practice standards for tomorrow’s schools. He also led the effort to develop EFEITM (Educational Facilities Effectiveness Instrument) a new research-based tool that school districts and governments across the globe have used to assess over one billion dollars worth of school facilities. EFEI has revolutionized the way we look at how school buildings and campuses actually work to support teaching and learning.
Prakash has served as the Northeast Regional President of the Council of Educational Facility Planners International and served on the ICOPE Task Force — New York City’s Independent Commission on Public Education.
FNI Has serviced projects in 42 countries on 5 continents. Prakash has served as the Managing Principal, School Planning and Design Consultant, Presenter and/or Keynote Speaker for clients in Australia (five states), Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Oman, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, The Netherlands, U.A.E., U.K., Ukraine, Venezuela, and the United States.
By staying current with the research as well as national and international social, economic and cultural trends, Prakash is always able to bring best practice thinking from many disciplines and fields to bear on education-related problems and projects. This approach has helped education clients save millions of dollars while still achieving or exceeding their schedule and quality expectations.
Prakash’s signature talent lies in his ability to communicate his passion for a new approach to education across the globe. He has consistently built strong partnerships with local firms, helped client communities visualize their future, built consensus for uniquely tailored solutions, and helped execute them successfully.
Contact Prakash Nair at Prakash@FieldingNair.com.
Contact Prakash Nair
More detailed information about Prakash Nair
Jay J. Litman, AIA
Fielding Nair International
Jay J. Litman, AIA has a deep understanding and appreciation of the educational challenges facing both children and adults within the learning environment. His 30-years of professional experience as a licensed architect has focused primarily on the planning and design of educational facilities for children, university facilities, public libraries, institutional projects and the reuse and rehabilitation of historic structures. His project background also extends to urban and campus planning.
He is deeply involved in the emerging theories of project-based, collaborative learning that is reshaping the language of school design. His evolution towards a project-based, collaborative educational model grew from his personal interest in the education of hearing impaired children using an “inclusion” model. The emerging theories of the time mandated fundamental changes in the design of the classroom environment such as; learning in smaller groups, working collaboratively on project based assignments, creating multiple modes of learning within one classroom as well as paying attention to acoustics and lighting. It became immediately apparent that the current 100-year old factory model for public education was highly resistant to change at the most fundamental levels.
Jay focused first on changing the model through design intervention by studying and improving acoustics, lighting and adjustments to the configuration of the classroom. In the design of new schools he utilized the “House Plan” model that created small learning communities of 100-students around a cluster of classrooms and labs. He is a founding member of the Rhode Island Chapter of the A. G. Bell Association for the Hearing Impaired and was involved on the RI Department of Education’s “Oral Education Task Force” in development of the “Rhode Island Strategic Plan for Children who are deaf or Hard of Hearing”
As Senior Planning Consultant and Architect with FNI, Jay advocates a workshop driven approach for the design of new schools and community campuses both in the United States and internationally. Jay is known for his “roll up the sleeves” approach in working directly with client and stakeholder groups in an interactive manner through drawings and discussions to conceive and develop design concepts right in front of the group.
Jay is presently working on a public school Master Plan for Middletown, Rhode Island where the FNI team has recommended consolidation of their current aged facilities into a lower school and an upper school campus through the radical rehabilitation of older school structures combined with new construction. In Serpong, Indonesia Jay is involved in the design of a new 1,400 student campus for a private academy (K-12), coordinating the FNI team on the design of nine distinct buildings including six Small Learning Communities a Global Learning Center, Design Arts Technology facility and a Health and Fitness Complex.
Jay also has a unique specialization in the planning and design of public and academic libraries. In his career he has designed over sixteen public and university library projects. His design for the Warwick Public Library represented a radical departure from the accepted design template for a large public library. The Library is anchored around a linear spine or promenade that links a private cafe, public meeting spaces, an outdoor garden and various library departments, much like an open mall. The high level of public acceptance and use (over 500,000 visits per year and increasing), out of town use, and visits from other library planning groups is a testament to the library’s success. Jay has presented papers on Library design at various conferences over the years including the “The Beauty Thing” and “Renovating the Small Public Library” at annual meetings of the New England Library Association. He has been a featured speaker at the Art Librarians Association of New England and he is a long standing member of the State Library Board of Rhode Island.
The approach to collaborative, project based learning and best practices of modern library design have recently come together in an FNI pilot project for Middletown, RI with a radical redesign of the Gaudet Middle School Library. The new design will expand the library’s ability to support many modalities of learning in a project based, collaborative atmosphere. Even the design of the book stacks is uniquely configured to accommodate cave type spaces for small group interaction. The new Library will offer multiple environments for classroom groups as well as a quiet refuge for individuals. Since furniture for this type of collaborative interaction does not exist, Jay developed prototypical designs to accommodate the expanded educational requirements. The new Gaudet Middle School Library will enable the teachers to fulfill the 21st century mission of a school library, which is to teach children how to search for and recognize reliable, quality information from available global databases and to teach students how to collaborate effectively.
Prior to joining FNI Jay owned and managed a small 10-person practice that focused on Historic Preservation, Libraries and Schools. In 1995 Jay merged his firm with a large, regional multi-disciplined A/E practice where he served as Associate Director of Architecture. Jay secured and designed projects for many educational and institutional clients such as the University of Rhode Island, Brown University and the Acela program for Amtrak as well as several multiple school public school and public library projects. Notable projects included the Coastal Policy Institute at URI, the Warwick Public Library, and several middle and elementary schools. In late 1998 Jay left the A/E firm to help open and grow the Providence office of another Architecture practice from a staff of three to twenty-one professionals. As Senior Associate he marketed, secured, designed and managed a wide variety of institutional and academic clients. Key projects at this firm included the new Jesse M. Smith Library, the redesign of the Newport Public Library, Club Acela for Amtrak, and the award winning Hotel Providence and Temple Habonim.
After receiving his professional degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design Mr. Litman worked for Mitchell/Giurgola Architects in New York City, Graham Gund in Cambridge, MA and Earl Flansburgh and Graham/Meus in Boston, MA. Notable project experience included the East Campus Master Plan for MIT, The Health Services & Technology Management laboratories at MIT, the Friuli Elementray School in Aviano, Italy, and the Boston Museum School. Jay served as project architect for the Emerson College Library and their Performing Arts School.
Contact Jay Litman
A more detailed bio for Jay Litman
Isaac Williams, LEED AP
Principal and Senior Designer, Fielding Nair International
Isaac Williams brings over a decade of professional experience from programming through construction administration to help FNI’s clients locate opportunities within their program, schedule and budget for innovative architecture that supports learning. As a senior designer with FNI, Isaac has provided design leadership in FNI projects around the world, including Douglas Park School and Herchmer School in Regina, Saskatchewan, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, Georgetown Primary School in the Cayman Islands, Sir James Douglas School and Acadia School in Vancouver, F.H. Collins High School in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and most recently Bloomfield High School in Michigan.
Isaac has lectured on school design and presented his design work nationally and internationally. He has served as juror for the American Institute of Architects Honor Awards, the National School Board Association’s “Learning by Design” awards, DesignShare’s international awards program, and served as a resource team member and panelist for the American Architectural Foundation’s Great Schools by Design program.
Isaac also brings to bear his academic background as an assistant professor at the University of Maryland where he has taught undergraduate and graduate design studios, including a graduate design studio on school design. His graduate seminar “Learning Places” explores the potential of architecture as a form of pedagogy in places of learning. Isaac has also taught architecture internationally in several study abroad programs around the world, including Dubai, Rome, Copenhagen, and Helsinki.
In 2007, Isaac was awarded a Henry C. Welcome Fellowship and a three-year grant by the Maryland Higher Education commission to continue his research and creative work focused on the relationship between space and learning.
Select Invited Lectures and Presentations
Moderator. “Learning By Design: 10 Ways to Create Schools Where Students Thrive.” National School Board Association Annual Conference. San Francisco, April 10, 2011.
Panelist. “21st Century Classroom” Slate Magazine. Washington, DC, November 8, 2010. Distinguished panelists included US Department of Education Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education, and a founder of the nationally recognized Denver School of Science and Technology.
Panelist. “Schoolhouse 3.0” Great Schools by Design. American Architectural Foundation. New York, New York, October 8, 2009.
“Building Interface: Connecting the Experience of Learning to the Physical Environment.” Third Annual International Design Conference. Berlin, February 17, 2009.
Keynote. “Learning Places.” Great Schools by Design. American Architectural Foundation. Austin Texas, November 5, 2008.
Contact Isaac Williams
James Seaman, AIA, REFP, LEED AP
Principal and Senior Architect, Fielding Nair International
James Seaman has over a decade of architectural experience primarily focused on the design of educational facilities. He is a well-rounded architect and his skill at seeing both the big picture and the details gives him the ability to lead complicated projects. He has managed, planned, and designed numerous schools around the world.
Recent projects with FNI include the modernization of three schools in Puerto Rico for 21st century learning; a new 375,000 square foot high school in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; a comprehensive master plan for Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District; the design of Surround LearningTM at Magnificat High School in Rocky River, OH; a master plan for St. George’s School in Vancouver, BC; and a new International School in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. Prior to joining FNI, James worked on three award-winning projects: the Al Glick Field House at the University of Michigan; the half- million square foot Penta Career Center in Perrysburg, Ohio; and the JFK Jr. Library in Dearborn Heights, Michigan.
James truly straddles between the world of architecture and education. He holds a Masters degree in Architecture from Lawrence Technological University and is currently studying the relationship between education and the built environment as a PhD student in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology at Michigan State University. Passionate about learning and teaching, he has taught undergraduate courses in design visualization and volunteers his time to teach K-12 students about architecture and design.
Committed to serving the profession of educational facility planning and design, James is the Midwest Great Lakes Region Vice President of the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI). Through the organization, he received a Regional Service Citation Award in 2010 for his work on the Midwest Great Lakes Regional Conference.
It is the cross-pollination of disciplines, and a holistic approach to design that form the cornerstones of James’ career. His influence extends beyond architecture as he regularly collaborates with educators and students. James believes that research is essential for the realization of new ideas. It is from this research that James has authored articles about 21st century learning, career and technical education, and sustainability. He enjoys sharing his research through presentations at educational conferences and critical discussion amongst colleagues on topics related to architecture and educational design. Recent presentations include: “A Holistic Approach to Implementing Green in Career and Technical Education,” “Collectively Designing the Future of Education,” and “Educational Trends that Affect School Design in the 21st Century.”
Contact James Seaman
Senior Interior Design Consultant
As an Interior Designer and Educational Planner, Jennifer’s role at FNI allows her to
actively participate in all phases of the design process, including: facilitating design
and planning workshops, developing Discovery Workbooks and planning materials for
clients, produce Interior Design Workbook Guides, space planning and programming,
and create 3D renderings and hand sketches for schematic designs. She is passionate
about creating healthy and engaging learning environments so that students are
uninhibited creatively and academically and inspired for a lifetime of learning. Working
closely with the design architects, Jennifer ensures that the interiors function as a 21st
century educational space to allow for maximum flexibility and variety with furniture
selections and are aesthetically inspiring with interior details, lighting, finishes and color
Jennifer also serves as an Senior Researcher for an innovative research project: Task
Furniture for Education (TFE). TFE has involved top designers, furniture manufacturers
and ergonomic experts from around the world to develop guidelines for educational
furniture that responds to the recent trends in technology, flexibility, and collaboration
in today’s schools
With FNI, she has worked on numerous projects, including: International School of
Brussels, International School of Vietnam, Sinarmas World Academy in Indonesia,
Medford Elementary Schools, Herchmer Wascana and Arcola Community Schools in
Regina, Saskatchewan, North Central Shared Facility and Regina Skills and Trade
Center in Regina, Saskatchewan, LAS Almaty in Kazakhstan, LAS Leysin in Switzerland,
American Community School of Abu Dhabi, and Georgetown Primary in the Cayman
Islands. Most recently she served as a Project Manager for schematic designs for P.K.
Yonge Developmental Research School in Gainesville, Florida and Thomas Jefferson
High School for Design and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia.
She received her Master of Interior Design degree from the University of Florida’s
College of Design, Construction and Planning. Her studies cumulated in a thesis
titled “Investing action research as a planning and designing approach: A post-
occupancy evaluation of University of Florida College of Law’s Legal Information
Center.” She strongly encourages the collaborative process of design by use of action
research methodologies. Allowing the stakeholders from the community to be apart
of the team-based design process ensures positive outcomes and changes for present
and future generations. The ideas that emerge from involving the teachers, parents,
administrators, and students lead to creating inspirational learning environments that
the community is able to truly take ownership of. She has a Bachelor of Science degree
with a major in Theater from Skidmore College where she studied in London with the
prestigious Shakespeare Programme participating in acting workshops with masters
from the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Contact Jennifer Lamar
Michael A.van Hamel, UIA PhD
Senior Architect, Fielding Nair International
Vision, energy and a high level of design and technical expertise characterizes Michael’s 20 year career. The combination of these qualities has led to accomplishments with complex projects in a wide range of environments. These diverse experiences have exposed him to international approaches to educational architecture and master planning. Michael’s work has required him to communicate effectively within all stages of a project, serving not only as an architect but also cultural theorist, liaison, and educator. Most importantly, his working partnerships lead to projects success and client satisfaction.
With an extensive educational background ranging from Universiteit v. Amsterdam to Princeton University, Michael holds advanced degrees in architecture and a PhD in Environmental Psychology. He is a member in The International Union of Architects as well as being an adjunct professor at the Rhode Island School of Design and lecturer for several east coast architectural programs.
Michael’s previous experience range from an engagement with the United States Government renovating American campuses in the Benelux and Asia to designing High-profile projects in Tunisia and Dubai. His recent FNI projects include the North Central Shared Facility and The Regina Trades and Skills Centre, both in Saskatchewan, Canada. The Middletown Public Schools, Forest Avenue Elementary and Gaudet Middle School Pilot Projects in Middletown, Rhode Island, USA. The Leysin American School – Geneva, Switzerland. The Pechersk School International- Master Planning and Architectural Design in Kyiv, Ukraine. And lastly, the award winning Sri Kdu School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Receiving the 2009 Council of Educational Facility Planners International- Project of Distinction.
Contact Michael A.van Hamel
Operations Manager, Fielding Nair International
As FNI’s Operations Manager, Gayle has key responsibilities for coordinating FNI’s trademark Discovery Workshops and Discovery Reports. In this capacity Gayle has served as a central figure in several FNI projects including The British School Caracas in Venezuela, GATES High School in Tampa, Florida, Billings Public Schools in Montana, Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic School Board in Ontario, Canada and the American School of Bombay located in Mumbai, India. Gayle is also directly involved with recruiting, professional development and marketing for FNI.
Gayle brings many personal strengths to the FNI team including her organizational and communication skills as well as a deep commitment to FNI’s cause – which is to improve the future for all children. Her interest in a new way to educate children is born from a conviction that no two individuals are alike, and that the diversity in their natural talents, passions and learning styles must be matched by an educational model that best suits each student and helps him or her to achieve his or her full potential. As someone whose own talent was suppressed as a ward of the “cells and bells” school system, she is able to see how a child influenced by schools developed under the FNI vision will not only thrive in this creative age but also be part of a larger movement to expand opportunities for children worldwide.
Gayle is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and a graduate of Branell Women’s College. She spent several years as the Manager of Member Services for F.A.B., Inc., an international foodservice co-op that just celebrated their 50th anniversary. In this capacity, Gayle was responsible for planning and implementation of international sales, marketing, procurement and organizing stockholder conferences. She was also the key liaison between the upper echelons of member companies and F.A.B. officers. Gayle reports directly to FNI President Prakash Nair and serves as a key liaison on the various projects that the firm is involved in.
Contact Gayle Johnson
Regional Director, Fielding Nair International
Bipin serves as FNI’s Regional Director for Asia and the Middle East. In this capacity, he runs FNI’s rapidly growing regional studio in Bangalore, India. FNI’s regional operations are carried out under the Education Design Architects (EDA) banner. EDA has offices in six major cities in India.
Bipin has overseen the design and construction of many successful and innovative projects. These include the American School of Bombay, Oakridge International School in Bangalore, Greenberry World School, Lucknow, Greenvalley International School in Trivandrum, New International School, Dehradun, Modern Indian School, Kathmandu and a new University for the National School of Business Management in Sri Lanka to name only a few.
Bipin brings to his job at FNI, significant experience in managing business enterprises from diverse industries. FNI also benefits from Bipin’s expertise in commercial operations, business development & international marketing.
Prior to joining FNI, Bipin provided end to end human resource solutions acting as a representative in India for the Ministry of Education, Rep. of Maldives. He was responsible for recruitment, selection and providing curriculum awareness to secondary school teachers. He was also associated with the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, serving as India Events Manager for all education promotion and marketing activities conducted by several private and public Malaysian universities. He organized road shows and exhibition events in various cities across India. He also undertook a market research project in India to analyze student behavior in considering overseas higher education. This project provided a platform for assessing the effectiveness of a marketing scheme adopted by Malaysian universities for the Indian marketplace. He continues to render consulting services to a number of organizations in South East Asia, The Middle-East and UK.
Bipin has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science & Engineering and an MBA from Leeds University Business School, UK.
Contact Bipin Bhadran
Senior Education Planner
Chris Hazleton has been an education innovator, entrepreneur and school leader for 20 years. He has dedicated his professional career to the improvement of the learning experience for young people. As former teacher and school leader, curriculum designer and facilities developer Chris brings a unique and important perspective to the FNI design process. His work with FNI centers on the transition from traditional to 21st Century learning environments and pedagogies. Chris’s expertise lies in his work with educators as a facilitator, planner and coach at critical points in the transition process.
Chris’s work as education planner touches all levels of an institution from school and district leaders to department heads and frontline teachers, elementary through high school. Chris’s work is integral to the FNI design process that begins by helping schools develop a shared vision for 21st Century teaching and learning. After this Chris assists teachers and leaders in the planning and preparation for using new spaces for learning. This preparation work focuses on designing and preparing for the changes and augmentations to school systems and structures as well as teaching practices which emphasize teacher collaboration, inquiry-based learning experiences, student directed learning, the infusion of technology, and many other cornerstone 21st Century practices.
As schematic plans for new learning environments evolve, Chris lends his first hand experience to help teachers visualize through an active simulation process how different learning environments can be used to easily and effectively differentiate the learning experience. This process leverages FNI’s Spatial Curriculum Mapping workshop.
Prior to joining the FNI team, Chris cut his teaching teeth while working with struggling teens in the outdoors. Outdoor therapeutic recreation and education proved to be a gateway for Chris to teaching in public schools but he struggled with the static systems and practices that continually got in the way of great learning opportunities for students. After teaching high school and middle school social studies, Chris was moved by the opportunity to incite change in education by starting a charter school in Duluth, Minnesota. He designed and opened Harbor City International School, www.harborcityschool.org, an accredited, student centered and inquiry-based public charter school recognized for quality and innovation.
As Executive Director, Chris led Harbor City High through its first 9 years by creating learning, teaching and administrative programs that married the best practices of a student centered, inquiry-based learning programs with effective traditional methodologies and programs. Recognizing that a student’s success is dependent on competent, passionate, “teacher entrepreneurs,” Chris created and refined a consensus driven, distributed leadership and professional development model. Despite Harbor City’s high level of economically and academically disadvantaged student population, the school’s academic performance and attendance results as well as exceptional staff retention rate, illustrate that this educational model works. It was in this capacity that he first began collaborating with FNI, who served as the design architect for Harbor City International School.
Chris believes that the fundamental underpinnings of effective education are dependent on teacher and student ownership of the learning process and experience. Teachers and students thrive when they are challenged with relevant learning experiences tied to their own interests in an environment that fosters critical thinking. He brings both a teacher and administrator’s mindset to the school design and transformation process. His broad background and understanding of best practices and top innovations equip him to offer FNI’s clients support in value-based curriculum design and mapping, effective and creative scheduling, stakeholder buy-in, teacher development, strategic planning, governance development and leadership support. Chris also has experience in managing four extensive facility expansion and enhancement projects and understands the natural relationship between a school facility and best practices for teaching and learning.
Contact Chris Hazleton
Ritsaart Jens Marcelis
Senior Design Associate
As design associate at FNI, Ritsaart “Rits” Marcelis participates in planning, architectural and interior design and brings extensive experience with 3D modeling and visualization. His facility with Building Information Modeling (BIM) software has contributed to FNI’s development of new parametric tools to test and reconfigure designs more quickly, allowing a greater number of potential solutions to be developed and evaluated early in the design process. Projects he has worked on with FNI include Bloomfield Hills High School in Michigan, Greenville STEAM Middle School in South Carolina, Cleveland Heights – University Heights master planning in Ohio, and various schools in Vancouver.
Besides his activities in architectural practice, Rits also maintains an interest in teaching. He has lectured on various topics in architectural history in survey courses at the University of Maryland and has taught courses on Dutch language and architectural drawing.
A native of Holland but longtime resident of the Washington, DC area, Rits holds a Masters in Architecture as well as bachelor’s degrees in Architecture (B.S.) and Japanese (B.A.) from the University of Maryland.
Contact Ritsaart Jens Marcelis
Kristie Lane Anderson, LEED AP
Kristie Anderson graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Oregon in 2011 with a Bachelor of Architecture and a minor in Landscape Architecture. Her academic work focused on designing engaging spaces that support place-based and naturalist learning.
Kristie’s experiences as a wilderness camp counselor and leadership facilitator inspire her to create engaging learning environments that help young people realize their full potential. She loves to think outside the “box”–not just of the classroom, but of the school building itself.
Since starting with FNI, Kristie has worked on schematic design for an environmental high school in Florida and master planning for school districts in Montana and Ontario.
Contact Kristie Anderson
Gary Stager, Ph.D.
Senior Education and S.T.E.M. Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Teacher educator, journalist, speaker, teacher, activist and consultant, Dr. Gary Stager, is driven by a belief that “things need not be as they seem.” He has worked since 1982 to help teachers on six continents make sense of their roles in the digital age. In 1990 Stager led development efforts at the world’s first two "laptop schools" in Australia. Since then, Gary has worked with countless laptop schools from Maine to Melbourne to Mumbai. Most recently, he helped a new Korean international School launch 1:1 computing and project-based learning from grade one.
Some people think ‘outside of the box.’ Gary is unaware of the box’s existence!
- Dr. David Thornburg, author, speaker & futurist
Stager taught at Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology from 1993 to 2010, most recently as a Visiting Professor. In 1998, Gary helped design Pepperdine’s groundbreaking Online Master of Arts in Educational Technology degree program and has taught online for fifteen years. In 1982, Gary created one of the nation’s first computer camp programs and was the Director of Professional Development for NJ’s Network for Action in Microcomputer Educator from 1983-93. He has taught at every level from preschool through supervising doctoral theses. One of his passions is working to change the trajectory of at-risk learners and worked in troubled schools in the USA, Canada and Australia.
Dr. Stager worked with Seymour Papert to create the Constructionist Learning Laboratory at the Maine Youth Center. Gary’s work with incarcerated youth in Maine was the subject of his PhD. dissertation documented Dr. Papert’s last institutional research project. As a leading “constructionist,” Stager worked with Dr. Papert for twenty years to bring his ideas to life in schools around the world.
Dr. Stager was a collaborator in the MIT Media Lab’s Future of Learning Group and the One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s Learning Team. He is the Executive Director of The Constructivist Consortium, founder of the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute and an associate of the Thornburg Center for Professional Development.
He sees through the No Child Left Behind fog with laser vision with eye-opening suggestions on how to truly engage and challenge learners. Having seen Gary work with children around the world, I can attest that Gary is a true champion of children.
- Peter H. Reynolds – Award-winning author, illustrator, animator &∓ software developer
Gary was Senior Editor for District Administration Magazine, Founding Editor of The Pulse: Education’s Place for Debate and Editor of ISTE’s Logo Exchange. He is a frequent consultant, conference presenter, workshop leader and keynote speaker at conferences across the USA, Canada, China, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Qatar, Brazil, Mexico, India, Switzerland, France, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Peru, South Korea, South Africa, The Slovak Republic and Venezuela. Dr. Stager studied early childhood education innovations in Reggio Emilia, Italy and has been sharing “The Best Educational Ideas in the World” through conference presentations and a forthcoming book.
Gary has a B.A. degree in elementary education from William Paterson College and once studied to be a jazz musician at Berklee College of Music, Rutgers University and with Frank Foster and Barry Harris at New York’s Jazz Cultural Theatre. His Ph.D. is in science and mathematics education from The University of Melbourne (Australia).
Mr. Stager continuously demonstrated high levels of initiative and creativity. His work with teachers is outstanding and effective, particularly in providing new approaches and procedures for educators to overcome daily, weekly and monthly challenges. His presentations have always served to challenge long held paradigms in education. Few are left in his workshops that do not feel inspired and motivated.
– Ron Canuel – CEO of the Canadian Education Association
Dr. Stager has worked with public schools, private schools, gifted students, at-risk learners, governments and homeschooling communities, Dr. Stager’s corporate clients have included: Disney, Microsoft, LEGO, Apple Computer, Compaq, Tom Snyder Productions, Universal Studios, Toshiba, Logo Computer Systems, Inc., Generation YES and Claris. He co-founded We Learn @ Home, a company providing services to homeschooling families and The Constructivist Consortium, an alliance of six competing education publishers committed to children, creativity, computing and constructivism.
Gary is an outstanding educator who makes a powerful impact on teachers, parents and students. Gary worked with our school for five days. During that time, I was able to observe him leading faculty meetings, facilitating parent question and answer sessions and working with students in whole class settings. In each case, Gary provided quality instruction, insight and modeling of effective practices. He was able to quickly identify our specific needs and tailored his workshops and interactions accordingly. Gary is an enthusiastic, committed practitioner who challenges the status quo in a manner that promotes inquiry, reflection and substantive change. Gary keeps student learning as his central focus and left our teachers, students and parents energized and motivated to expand their view of how the learning environment can be restructured to improve engagement, motivation and achievement. Overall, it was an outstanding week and we appreciated all that Gary had to offer.
- Lisa Mireles, Assistant Superintendent – American School of Bombay, India
Gary Stager was a finalist for best columnist in the 2006 Association of Education Publishers Distinguished Achievement Awards. In 1999, Converge Magazine named Gary a "shaper of our future and inventor of our destiny." The National School Boards Association recognized Dr. Stager with the distinction of "20 Leaders to Watch" in 2007. The June 2010 issue of Tech & Learning Magazine named Gary Stager as "one of today’s leaders who is changing the landscape of edtech through innovation and leadership."
He sees instantly to the heart of complicated situations, whether it be a classroom dynamic or a problem of professional politics and infighting. He cuts right through the irrelevant details and gets to the aspect of the situation at which an intervention might be possible.
- Brian Harvey, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley Department of Computer Science
Dr. Stager was a keynote speaker at the 2009 National Educational Computing Conference before an audience of more than 4,000 educators. He has been a Visiting Scholar at The University of Melbourne’s Trinity College and Scholar-in-Residence at Lesley University.
A man of many passions and talents, Gary was the new media producer for The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmeri Project – Simpatíco, 2007 Grammy Award Winner for Best Latin Jazz Album of the Year. The album also won a similar award from the Jazz Journalists Association. Dr. Stager is a contributor to The Huffington Post and a fearless voice on behalf of children and progressive educators. Gary’s “Hope for School” was captured in the documentary, Imagine-It2!
Contact Gary Stager
Melvin Freestone, B.A. (Mod), M.A., H.Dip.Ed., M.Sc.
Senior Professional Development Specialist, Fielding Nair International
Melvin Freestone is a Senior Professional Development Specialist with Fielding Nair International and brings to the group vast experience in teaching as well as in school and curriculum development in primary and secondary schools. He has held Senior Teaching positions in Ireland and Tasmania. Until recently he was Principal of Montagu Bay Primary School in Tasmania.
In addition to his teaching role, Melvin has led and advised numerous State and National Primary and Secondary curriculum development projects, specifically relating to science, technology and personal development.
Melvin’s experience extends beyond Australia’s borders: he has carried out a review of Technology Education in Pacific Rim countries for the OECD’s Pacific Circle Consortium. He has conducted residential programs for primary and secondary teachers in Thailand in association with the University of Tasmania. He has worked extensively over many years in providing both pre-service and in-service courses and programs for teachers and senior staff. Melvin works with teachers in Nepal, India and Thailand. He is a Board Member of the Sujaya Schools in India and their Educational Consultant.
Melvin focuses on empowerment of the people whom he works. He works collaboratively – ‘at the shoulder’ – with educational leaders, senior staff, teachers, parents and members of school communities.
Melvin’s educational experience and expertise enhance dialogue and action.
Melvin is a molecular biologist as well as an experienced educator, and has carried out research into the hospital pathogen Staphylococcus aureus.
Contact Melvin Freestone
Senior Education Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Bob Pearlman has been a key leader in the design, development, and implementation of 21st Century Secondary Schools. He is currently a strategy consultant for 21st Century school development. Bob served from 2002-2009 as the Director of Strategic Planning for the New Technology Foundation in Napa, CA, a school development organization. In this role he worked with communities in 9 states to launch 50 new 21st Century Secondary Schools based on the New Technology 21st Century High School model. Bob consults and speaks widely in the US and the UK on 21st Century Learning.
As the former National Consultant on Educational Technology for the American Federation of Teachers and as a founder of the Co-NECT School New American School Design Team, Bob has been a pioneer in designing new schools, integrating project-based learning, work-based learning, and technology into the schools, and in training teachers, administrators, and parents in the application of new technologies and their role in restructuring schools.
Bob is the author of many articles on 21st Century Learning, incGary Stager, Ph.D.luding “Making 21st Century Schools” (Educational Technology, September-October 2009), “New Skills For A New Century” (Edutopia, June 2006), “21st Century Learning in Schools – A Case Study of New Technology High School in Napa, CA“, (New Directions for Youth Development, Summer 2006: The Case for Twenty-First Century Learning), and “Reconsidering the Design of Schools through the Lens of Project-Based Learning” – Interview, DesignShare and Education Facility Planning News, March, 2007. A new chapter, “New Learning Environments for 21st Century Learners”, will be published Spring 2010 by Solution Tree Press in a new book on 21st Century Learning.
Bob has had a unique career as a teacher, Co-Director of Computer Education, teacher union leader and negotiator, Foundation President, Director of Education and Workforce Development, and Director of Strategic Planning for the nation’s largest network of innovative 21st Century Schools. Bob’s experience and expertise includes New School Development, Whole District Reform, Business-Education Partnerships and coalitions, School-to-Career and Workforce Development, Union—School District Negotiations, School Restructuring and Technology, Project-Based Learning, Professional Development, Educational Finance, and School-site Assessment and Accountability.
Bob is the former President of the Autodesk Foundation (1996-2000), the organization that revitalized Project-Based Learning in the 1990s, the former Director of Education and Workforce Development at Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network and the Coordinator of Educational Reform Initiatives for the Boston Teachers Union.
Contact Bob Pearlman
Professor Stephen Heppell
In new media and broadcasting he has been at the forefront of the new media revolution since the 80s, currently guiding a range of organisations
from BAFTA and the BBC through to the Teachers’ TV and the innovative sports channel Cowes.TV. A regular broadcaster himself, he received the
Royal Television Society’s Judges’ Award for lifetime contribition to educational broadcasting in 2006.
Senior Education/ICT Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Prof. Stephen Heppell is a Senior Consultant with FNI advising clients on a wide range of education and ICT issues. Stephen’s work extends
into multiple, but overlapping, domains:
“Professor Stephen Heppell: the UK’s leading on-line education guru” Channel 4 TV 1999
Stephen pioneered collaborative virtual learning spaces. Past projects range from the Guinness Book of Record’s largest internet learning project
in the world last century, through a community of 20,000 headteachers to the worldwide Think.com. A string of very-large-scale projects showed
and still show just how seductive online learning communities could be and he started these in the pre-web days of the 1980s.
“The father of ICT, Stephen Hepell” think:lab blog 2007
In Architecture and Design his pioneering research work for CABE and RIBA redefined the scope of learning spaces, largely informed by the
emerging pedagogies in his virtual spaces. He is involved in the building, or redevelopment, of a mass of learning spaces worldwide, from
community and corporate, through to Higher Education and of course a good number of radical, effective and seductive schools.
“when I finally spotted him, Stephen Heppell didn’t look at all like I imagined. This geek of geeks, this net-head of all times, this
revolutionary who is yanking the British education system out of its Victorian slumber and shaping it for the digital information age, surely it
couldn’t be this genial fellow before me with his whitening Father Christmas beard and Hush Puppy fashion sense” Design Magazine
In 2008 Stephen still does “geeky“. Pioneering projects have consistently reached out for the early adoption of people-power technologies, like
Hypercard, into learning. Pioneering CD ROM projects in the 80s led onwards onwards to hand held projects – like the radical eVIVA project with
QCA using mobile phones to capture learner narrative in a formal viva.
“Europe’s leading online education expert” Microsoft 2006
(Almost) finally, at the centre of all this, Stephen carries a significant policy portfolio supporting a range of front running nations
worldwide. His work ranges from horizon scanning for the DfES/DCSF through to what can only be described as a full policy revolution in the
Caribbean. As well as his own policy consultancy heppell.net ltd he sits on a small number of corporate boards and is chair of trustees for the
charity “Inclusion Trust” with its remarkable Notschool.net project.
“The most influential academic of recent years in the field of technology and education” Department for Education and Skills
(DfES), UK, 2006
But everyone who knows Stephen well, will also know his passion for sailboat racing – from coaching the UK Mirror Class Squad to a World
Championship win in Kingston, Canada to his annual campaign around the UK’s Solent and East Coast in his rather high tech (!) yacht Cracker with
partner, friends and family. “Sailing” says Stephen, “is what I do – the rest is a hobby”.
In this Mobile Learning Institute film, Heppell makes his way through London, describing his vision for schools, meeting with kids at the Be Very Afraid conference, and exploring ideas for classroom design in a technology pilot school in Teddington.
Contact Professor Stephen Heppell
Dr. David Thornburg
Senior Education and Technology Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Dr. David Thornburg has been active in the field of education since the late 1970′s and he has invented several technologies that are still in active use today. On receiving his PhD in 1971, he became one of the founding members of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center where he conducted research and invented devices to improve the user interface to computers. On leaving PARC, he did some consulting and co-founded Koala Technologies, a company built to commercialize his invention of the touch sensitive graphics tablet.
Since that time, he has continued his work in the field of education leading to his observation that “place matters.” In the 1990′s he published Campfires in Cyberspace, the book where he first made the observation that people across culture and time have always occupied four learning spaces: The Campfire (home to direct instruction), the Watering Hole (conversational learning), the Cave (reflective learning) and Life (experiential learning). His initial thesis was that traditional schools spent too much time in Campfire mode and that technology needed to be used in ways that supported all the learning spaces.
Recently, this thinking culminated in his invention of the Educational Holodeck – an immersive and interactive technology-driven environment that flies in the face of traditional classroom design. He is currently writing a new edition of the book with the new title: From the Campfire to the Holodeck: The Role of Place in Learning.
From the standpoint of effective learning, David adopts the perspectives of Vygotsky, Piaget and Papert while recognizing that the very physical layout of many classrooms makes the implementation of these models quite difficult.
David’s work is global in scope, with his primary focus on the United States and Brazil. He presents at numerous conferences worldwide each year, and engages in both short- and long-term consulting arrangements with schools and districts interested in transforming their institutions to meet the needs of the dynamic world in which we and our children are living.
Contact David Thornburg
Senior Education Consultant, Fielding Nair International
As an education consultant Andy has over 30 years of experience in the education sector. Always leading by example, Andy has a vision to see the education world transform itself to come in line with the needs of the 21st century student. During his award-winning career as a senior education leader he has been instrumental in developing, leading and facilitating innovative, digital education programs and leading both school and system level education reform with national and international education systems.
As a committed educator, Andy has always focussed on creating learning environments that could demonstrate the potential of technology to invigorate and rejuvenate education. He conceptualised and opened an innovative school in Western Australia that was visited by over 700 national and international visitors and is acknowledged in The Language of School Design: Design Patterns for 21st Century Schools, by Prakash Nair, Randall Fielding and Dr. Jeffery Lackney. Andy went on to manage the Education to Community Project for the Department of Education in Western Australia before undertaking consultancy work in the UK. Andy had five years as Senior Director ICT for Learning in the Northern Territory of Australia, where he worked with Apple Corporation Australia to design and implement the inaugural Apple Learning Centre – a unique facility that provided professional learning for both teachers and students. During his five years in the role Andy gained an in-depth knowledge of the potential of emergent technologies and online and virtual education to transform schools. Andy was on a number of national ICT education committees in Australia and was invited to be a member of Telstra’s Education National Forum for Innovation in Education.
Andy has provided consultancy services to the Ministry of Education in Brunei on their 1:1 in Model School’s initiative, which is focused on combining pedagogical reform with 1:1 technology and learning space reform.
Contact Andy Street
Senior Educational Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Christine is a professional educator with over 30 years of classroom and corporate education experience in Western Australia, Northern Territory, United Kingdom and Brunei Darussalam.
Christine‘s highly successful career in education includes leading teams in the design, development and the online publication of 21st Century curriculum and assessment materials and related professional learning programs. In 2004 Christine’s expertise and capacity for excellence as a educator was recognised when she was awarded teacher of the year by the West Coast Education District (WA). The award acknowledged Christine’s ability to lead and mentor colleagues in the creation of dynamic, student centred, ICT rich learning environments. Christine was invited to share the ground breaking work being undertaken in her school at the annual National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) International Gallery in Seattle.
Christine’s passion in educaton centres on enhancing both the experience and quality of student learning. Christine believes that this outcome can be achieved by building the capacity of the teaching workforce through quality professional learning, by re-designing learning spaces that support 21st Century instructional practices and by developing and providing 24/7 access to relevant dynamic digital curriculum and assessment materials. This deep commitment to educational reform is evidenced by Christine’s involvment in leading and collaborating on a wide range of educational initiatives including:
- Systemic program leadership:
- Research and development of online/ digital curriculum materials and professional learning (http://rscam.nt.edu.au)
- Implementation of First Steps systemic literacy program
- National curriculum development and implementation (Australia)
- Designing, delivering and facilitating teacher and school leader professional learning across a broad spectrum of areas inclusive of:
- 21st Century pedagogies and learning design
- Whole school development
- School level curriculum design and development – such as Project/ Inquiry Based Learning
- Interactive technologies in classrooms
- Literacy teaching for the English as an Additional Language/ Dialect learner (EAL/D)
Christine has acquired a deep understanding of the change management process, as it applies to schools and systems, gained through professional learning activities, action based research projects and practical hands-on experience within a broad range of school contexts.
Christine has worked regionally, nationally and internationally with teachers and leadership teams in Australia, the United Kingdom and Brunei, assisting them to explore, understand and apply 21st Century Pedagogies to teaching and learning programs and leadership processes and practices. Christine is able to work with systems and schools to co-design and co-develop a student centred, 21st Century ICT integration strategy that will foster the development of a ‘Culture of ICT’ within the school community.
Contact Christine Street
Joanne Hopper, Ed.D.
Senior Education Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Joanne Hopper has spent nearly 30 years in K-12 education, with the majority in leadership roles. She has maintained a focus on student-centered learning, active engagement and real-world connections. For the past 13 years, she has served as a Director or Education Services at a regional educational service agency where she directs and implements programs serving local school districts. In this role she has lead professional learning community, school improvement, curriculum and instruction, and staff development initiatives. She has a strong experience base in online learning and has been directly involved for over 15 years in new program development from distance learning to virtual high schools. The most recent venture being a virtual high school for dropout and expelled youth.
Having served in local, regional and state leadership roles, Joanne is the current chair of the Education Committee of St. Clair County, Michigan Blue Meets Green, and is a member of the Board of Directors of Michigan Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. She also serves on the statewide advisory board for Regional Data Initiatives, and the Education Task Force of St. Clair County Community Foundation. In the recent past, Joanne served as president of Michigan Mathematics and Science Center Network.
Joanne has led 21st century learning efforts and has worked closely with architect colleagues to foster dialogue and change in learning space design. She chairs the 21st Century Learning Symposium in St. Clair County and hosted with Stephen Heppell the first Be Very Afraid eXtra student exposition in the United States. Joanne is actively involved with the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI) and serves as the Michigan Chapter’s President-Elect.
Joanne holds a doctorate degree in educational leadership from Central Michigan University. Her studies focused on change leadership within the context of a professional learning community. She has presented on a variety of topics including 21st century learning and school leadership at state and national venues.
Contact Joanne Hopper
Aylin Inel, IIDA, LEED AP
Senior Interior Design Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Aylin Inel has over twenty years of experience in interior design, strategic planning, furniture design, surface design, project management, and construction. She has designed more than 10 million square feet of space for global companies that specialize in high-tech, media and entertainment. She involves herself in each project from conceptual design to move in, making sure that in every step of the process, clients’ needs are exceeded and sustainability is carefully considered.
Aylin is committed to conserving the environment and making intelligent use of our natural and cultural resources. She believes that societies across the globe are experiencing a shift in attitude from one merely concerned with surviving on earth to one concerned with changing how we live so that the earth can survive. She embraces this shift and seeks to enhance the impact of sustainable design and development as a basic tenet of her work. Aylin believes the ideas of sustainability have the potential and power to enrich and broaden world culture as well as architectural language.
Earlier in her career, Aylin was the VP & Director of Design both at Interior Space International and HLW design firms. Most of her projects have been published, and she serves as a judge for Design Excellence & Innovation boards, providing design supervision for many cutting-edge furniture manufacturers.
As Aylin holds both a Master in Structural Engineering and Bachelor of Science in Design, she has the unique ability to deliver cost-effective, construction friendly, time-efficient designs. Her track record in meeting accelerated schedules and limited budgets has guaranteed her many repeat clients.
Her many awards include: Interior Architecture Honor Award Los Angeles Chapter AIA, Sony Imageworks, Culver City, 1996; Caliber Award Los Angeles Chapter IIDA, Warner Music, 2004; MGM Design Competition First Place, Los Angeles, 2001; EMI Music Publishing Competition First Place, Los Angeles, 1998
Contact Aylin Inel
Senior Professional Development Specialist, Fielding Nair International
John Sole, is a Service Learning Master Teacher, educational consultant, and videographer. He was an educator in the School
District of Philadelphia for 20 years. In 1998, John left the classroom to become the Service Learning Specialist for the
District. In that capacity, he assisted in the development and implementation of District-wide Project Based Service Learning
and worked diligently to integrate technology into all projects as a 21st century teaching and learning tool. In his position
as SL Specialist, he helped individual teachers, students and schools conceive, plan and implement hands-on-projects in the
classroom. As the Service Learning Specialist, John created District-wide, student-directed projects such as “Designing the
School of the Future”, the “Student Paper Recycling Initiative”, “Seeds to Trees”, and the
“Children’s Water Monitoring Network”. All projects are designed for students to develop leadership and
citizenship skills and to achieve mastery of grade appropriate curriculum and state mandated standards across the disciplines.
Community Partnerships are integral to all projects in which John has been involved.
He has trained thousands of teachers from throughout the United States as well as from Canada, Japan, Serbia, the Ukraine and
Russia about Service Learning and its implementation and has been directly responsible for involving tens of thousands of
students in hands-on projects on the front lines in their classrooms.
Since 1999, John has created dozens tightly edited videos of real students conducting real projects, in and out of real
In 2001, John co-founded Green Woods Charter School. Until June, 2004, he served as the Projects Specialist there. Green
Wood’s pedagogical focus is environmental and project-based.
Beginning in 2004, John Sole has devoted himself full time to his educational consulting organizations. Sole Productions, is
his video technology studio for visually documenting compelling student projects. Guerilla Educators
(www.guerillaeducators.typepad.com) works to address the critical global
need of providing the tools necessary for educators to practice world-class, hands-on Project Based Learning in their
classrooms, schools, and Districts.
As a consultant, John also works closely with school architects, designers, and planners to powerfully connect the design
process of school construction directly to students and curriculum via Project Based Learning.
Currently, John is in the process of developing another school, the Elementary School for Sustainable Design.
Contact John Sole
Educational Planning Consultant
Annalise Gehling is a Melbourne-based teacher, geographer and planner and serves as FNI’s Educational Planning Consultant. Annalise has worked on National School Planning Standards in Abu Dhabi, trained Government Officials on School Facilities Assessment in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, researched and authored a detailed Master Plan of the Cayman Islands’ school environments, acted as chief planner for a school library refurbishment, and played a key role in FNI’s School Planning contracts in the United States, India, Ukraine, Victoria, Malaysia, Tasmania, New Zealand, UAE and the Cayman Islands.
In addition, Annalise has had a number of speaking engagements at regional, national and international events, and has authored papers for The Anneberg Institute at Brown University, British Council for School Environments, Australian Education Union, Edutopia and the School Libraries Association of Victoria.
Annalise’s work with FNI draws upon her recent teaching experiences, big-picture educational philosophy and broad understanding of educational literature. Annalise earned a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Adelaide, Australia, in 2002. Her excellent results in majors of Geography, and Media and Communication showcased her talents as a spatial and linguistic thinker. After working as a graduate in the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Annalise turned to her passion for education and completed a Bachelor of Teaching (Primary and Secondary) at Deakin University.
Annalise is a member of the Australian College of Educators, and also teaches part-time at several Melbourne schools.
Contact Annalise Gehling
Senior GIS and Master Planning Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Matthew Cropper is FNI’s GIS expert. He is also involved with long range Facilities Master Planning including the development of Demographic Analyses, Enrollment Projections and preparing Redistricting Studies.
Matthew Cropper has worked in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and planning industry since 1997. He has a Bachelors Degree in Geography with a Specialization in Geographic Information Systems and Analytical Cartography. He has worked with school districts of all sizes across the United States. He specializes in planning with a focused approach of using GIS mapping technology to assist in problem solving. Matthew has worked primarily with K-12 school districts, but he has provided consultation to municipal governments and private companies as well.
Matthew recently directed the largest redistricting effort that Henrico County, Virginia (surrounds Richmond) has ever undertaken. He has worked on demographic studies for districts in New York (Buffalo City, Corning Painted Post), and is currently working with West Chester Ohio, Champaign Illinois and Bloomington Illinois on demographic studies. Additionally, Matthew is also currently providing redistricting and planning consultation to Baltimore County Schools MD, Charleston County Schools SC, and Akron Public Schools OH. Matthew also serves as an expert witness for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
Contact Matthew Cropper
Marketing & Media Coordinator, Associate Planner, Fielding Nair International
Catherine Roberts-Martin has over twenty years of experience in corporate communications and marketing services. She has produced meetings, videos, digital graphics, web and e-marketing tools for a long list of national and international companies, including Medtronic, UnitedHealth Group, Ecolab, H.B. Fuller and Caterpillar, Inc.
Catherine is a graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where she majored in design and media graphics. She began her career in the graphics department at the NBC affiliate KARE, then was a media designer in marketing services at Deluxe, Inc. before becoming Creative Director at Mainstream Communications. As media coordinator for Fielding Nair International, Catherine acts as a media liaison, managing websites, videos, presentations, social media and proposals from the Minneapolis Studio.
Catherine often volunteers her experience and knowledge to a number of non-profits, most recently as a technical consultant to Public Arts Saint Paul and the Wing Huie University Avenue Project, the Language of Urbanism. She is also a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism, where she shares with students her extensive knowledge of current graphic software tools.
Contact Catherine Roberts-Martin
Architectural Designer and 3D Visualization Artist
Mikael Gevorkian is based in our Los Angeles studio and graduated cum laude from The University of Southern California’s Architecture Department in 2009 and has 10 years of experience in 3D modeling and is always researching and experimenting with the latest technologies. His passion for design and artistic talent combined with his ability to use various 3D and animation gaming software programs in innovative ways helps the design team and our clients seize the opportunities to create beautiful spaces for fluid 21st Century learning. His rendered 3D views and animation movies of FNI designs are tools our clients have benefited from by using them for marketing endeavors. His ability to quickly do 3D spatial studies supports our collaborative design process with our clients and local architects of record in which our team explores many ideas before settling on what is best for a given school design. He also recognized for his strong technical, organizational and lighting design skills, which he gained by working for his family’s business in construction and electrical sub-contracting.
Mikael’s roles at FNI have included both architectural and detailed interior design including acoustical and lighting design on our most fast track projects. He was a key member of the design teams for International School of Vietnam, Taiwan Adventist Prep Academy and Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School.
Contact Mikael Gevorkian
Design Associate & Project Manager, Fielding Nair International
Louis is both a Design Associate and a Project Manager with FNI. He believes that all spaces within a school should be interactive with its users and adaptive to suit the ever-changing needs of the learning community. His creativity, strong problem solving skills and integrated educational and design philosophies make him an asset to any project he works on.
Louis utilizes Building Information Management (BIM) technology to create comprehensive building models that digitally represent physical and functional characteristics of a building. These models can be easily used to produce any number of documents needed to communicate a design to clients, community groups, contractors and city representatives. Louis used Revit to produce a full set of construction documents for the High School for Recording Arts, in St. Paul, Minnesota, opening fall 2013.
Louis was a key member of the design team for The Rayong Institute of Science and Technology and co-located Rayong Science Academy in Thailand, a new generation of innovative secondary and tertiary learning in Asia. He served as a designer for the master planning and renovation of Pratt Community School, a historic elementary school in Minneapolis. He was also the project manager and designer for Venture Academies, an innovative new charter middle and high school in Minneapolis.
He graduated Summa Cum Laude from North Dakota State University in 2011 with a Master of Architecture and a B.S. in Environmental Design. His thesis project reinvented the modern day academic library, turning it into a place where students wanted to be and allowed for the integration of ever changing technologies and social trends, the basis of 21st century design. In addition to his thesis he also designed a learning center in Tanzania, Africa that operated as an elementary school during the day and a community meeting center in the evening. His academic success has translated into innovative and forward thinking designs in the professional world.
Earlier in his career Louis worked as a design associate at a west coast architecture firm gaining experience and assisting in the design of student housing, thus giving him the experience necessary to understand the needs of a student and translate them into a functioning, innovative, and practical building. Louis also was a member of the SENSEable city laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology his research helped in the development of building occupant tracking systems that make any existing campus building 45% more energy efficient.
Contact Louis Sirota
Senior Interior Designer
Kris develops color palettes, interior finishes, and furnishing plans that epitomize the stimulus-rich environments demanded by 21st century
learning environments. Laura Porter-Jones, Director of Paideia Academy, wrote of Kris’s work: “The school is absolutely beautiful —
in 15 years I have never been privileged to work in a facility half as lovely as this one. Thank you!”
Kris has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota, and more than 20 years of experience in interior architecture and design.
Kris’s educational designs include: Cayman Islands High Schools and Primary Schools; Scotch Oakburn College, Launceston, Tasmania; Advanced
Learning Environment Solutions, Jacksonville, Florida; Community Trade & Business Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Sage Academy, River Heights
Charter School, Great River Montessori School, and Paideia Academy in Minnesota.
Interior design is inseparable from effective architecture, and Kris works seamlessly with both FNI and partner architects. She has a powerful
ability to visualize finished spaces from preliminary design sketches, and integrates her work with structural elements, lighting, and landscape.
Contact Kris Fielding
Vice President, Fielding Nair International
Jody has worked to promote the missions of non-profit and public
organizations for almost 20 years, doing advocacy, fundraising, public
relations and marketing. Jody earned an MBA in Strategic Management and
Marketing at Columbia University with an interest in applying private-sector
methodologies to public-sector ventures. After graduate school, Jody
joined the New York City School Construction Authority where she worked
for 10 years as a member of an internal management consulting team. She
worked on a broad range of projects, from an in-depth competitiveness study to
overhaul the design department to establishing a quality management program
for the agency.
Jody is an advisor to a project at Columbia Journalism School, the establishment of an institute to encourage journalists to work with high-risk urban high-school students. She has been advising on fundraising, marketing and strategic planning, as well as helping to write the business plan.
Jody is also a founding member of Urban Educational Facilities for the 21st Century, a non-profit that advocates for good school
design for urban children. She is an editor and contributing writer for its Schoolhouse Journal. At Fielding Nair, Jody has many
responsibilities including operations, administration, writing, interviewing, in-depth plan analysis and marketing.
Contact Jody Sampson
ology Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Bruce Dixon is a Senior Technology Consultant with Fielding Nair International. As a teacher, Principal, educational software
developer and college lecturer, Bruce’s focus over the past three decades, has been on driving reform initiatives that
significantly improve the opportunities for learning through the use of technology.
Following his teaching career, he was an educational software developer, and in the late 80’s co-founded what became the largest
educational technology services company in the Southern Hemisphere, which oversaw the rapid expansion of technology use in
Australian schools as well as the development of 1 to 1 (student to computer ratio) programs across Australia and New Zealand.
He then took the concept to North America, Canada and the UK, before establishing a learning, technology and strategic consulting
practice, Prestondixon. He has continued his pro-bono work through the establishment of the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation.
He consults to schools, School Districts, Education Departments, Ministries of Education and corporations in the US, Australia,
Canada, Germany, UK and New Zealand, has been invited to speak at events across Asia, Europe and North America, and continues to
work on a diverse range of exciting projects making learning a more compelling experience for kids.
Contact Bruce Dixon
Andrew S. Horowitz
Senior Design Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Andrew has over 15-years of professional experience, earning his Bachelor of Architecture from
the University of Miami in Florida and practicing in San Diego before settling in Massachusetts.
Throughout his career he has been recognized for his ability to quickly understand the unique
needs of his clients. He is recognized for his collaboration skills and his ability to manage large
and complex projects. His experience ranges from existing conditions through construction
administration and includes educational, commercial, retail, medical, residential, historic
preservation, and renovation projects. His focus and passion however center on educational
projects. While working with Flansburgh Architects and Newport Collaborative Architects
his projects include numerous schools, public libraries, community centers, and historic
Andrew feels strongly that, just as an architect should be responsible for the physical shaping
of a community, he should also participate in shaping the ideological structure of a community.
His passion for community led him to teaching architectural design at the New England Institute
of Technology, is a regular guest critic at Roger Williams University’s School of Architecture and
is a community athletics coach in Rehoboth, MA.
Since 2008 he has been an integral part of the FNI project teams on several key projects
including his continuing role as the key project manager for the development of a series
of educational pilot projects for Middletown Public Schools. This includes the Internet
Café/Learning Center and the new 4th/5th Grade Learning Academy at the Gaudet Middle
School, the K-2 Learning Center at the Forest Elementary School and the new Bradley Learning
Center at the High School.
Andrew has been a key member of the FNI design team for the schematic development for
the new Discovery World School in Indore, India; a 1,500 student K-12 International School
Campus. He coordinated the evolution of the layouts for the Small Learning Communities of
each school Building as well as the layout of all the enrichment buildings. Andrew also played
a key role in the development of the building layout of the North Central Shared Facility in
Regina, Saskatchewan; a new Collegiate School (High School) designed with fully integrated
Contact Andrew S. Horowitz
Senior Designer, Fielding Nair International
Alex Suarez works to integrate FNI’s clients’ educational vision with inspired architectural responses and led the master planning for International School of Brussels and PK Yonge Developmental Research School. With over 13 years of experience, Alex’s interdisciplinary approach to design mirrors what is happening in the world of education. It evolves from critical research in exploring relevant and contemporary strategies to design problems. His education work benefits from his experience with a vast repertoire of project types. He received his Bachelor of Architecture from Temple University in Philadelphia before earning his Master of Architecture from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied under the architectural leadership of Thom Mayne, Daniel Libeskind, and Anthony Vidler, among other distinguished faculty. In addition to the US, he has also worked and lived in Brazil, Istanbul and Amsterdam. In Brazil, Alex worked for the American Consulate in Rio de Janeiro doing surveys and research to create a feasibility report to help them find a new site for their headquarters as well as renovating one of their buildings. He also worked for Progetto Arquitetura E Interiores on the 1997 Instituto Arquitetos do Brasil Public School Competition in Sao Paulo.
He is currently the Director of the Interior Architecture Master Program at the Piet Zwart Institute, a centre for postgraduate studies and research, Rotterdam, NL. Prior to this appointment he was teaching design studios and seminars courses at Woodbury University, Los Angeles. He has formed international workshops and taught design studios and seminars in Barcelona, Paris and Istanbul. For Alex, the intersection of academia and professional practice are reciprocal vehicles to test, explore and implement design ideas.
His work has been published and won numerous awards. In 2008, he won the NAS (Novosibirsk Architecture Society) Award for his competition entry “TransPavilion” for a temporary architecture + design summer pavilion in Novosibirsk, Russia. In 2005, he designed and exhibited ‘Ulterior Motifs’ an exhibition in Los Angeles that showcased work produced in a Barcelona CAD/CAM study abroad program. His 2009 project “WhiteOut” is an installation produced and exhibited at The Historic Hallein Salt Factory in Austria. In 2010, he was invited by the European Ceramic Work Center for a CAD/CAM art-in-residency to research digital design and fabrication.
Contact Alex Suarez
Neil A. Shaw
Consultant in Acoustics and Presentation Technologies, Fielding Nair International
Neil A. Shaw, FASA, FAES, consultant in acoustics and presentation technologies, has over 30 years of experience with in the design and operation of performance, production, and academic spaces as well as corporate meeting and conference facilities, sacred spaces, and research laboratories.
He studied Electrical Engineering at the Cooper Union and received his BS Engineering and MS Engineering degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was the author of, and was the adjunct faculty for, acoustics courses at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and the Thornton School of Music at University of Southern California, and has presented invited papers for the Acoustical Society of America and the Audio Engineering Society. He is a Fellow of both the Acoustical Society of America and the Audio Engineering Society and is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
His commissions include the renovation of Barnum Hall and the expansion of the Music Building at Santa Monica High School; the renovation of the auditorium at Malibu High School; the new Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill, California; and the new South Region High School No. 9 in Los Angeles. University projects include the the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences building at the University of California, Riverside; the Arts building at the University of California, Irvine; the South Lawn building at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville; and the Intimate Theater at California State University, Los Angeles. Performance and production venues include the Coral Sky Amphitheater in Palm Beach; the screening room and production spaces for Media Artists, Pty, in Chennai, India; the Getty Villa Amphitheater; the Getty Museum Auditorium; the screening room and edit facilities at MGM Constellation Headquarters in Century City, California; new edit and production rooms at Capitol Records in Hollywood; and performance spaces in the Legend of the Seas, Grandeur of the Seas, Disney Magic, and Crystal Harmony cruise ships.
Contact Neil A. Shaw
Chief Technology Officer, Fielding Nair International
As FNI’s CTO, Michael specializes in optimizing schools to leverage the use of web 2.0 resources. By utilizing open source, crowd sourcing, and cloud based services, Michael helps schools maintain maximum return regardless of their technology budget.
After earning a degree in Special Education at The University Of South Florida, Michael began working with the unique population of special needs students at Florida’s busiest domestic violence shelter. While working with these students, many of whom were homeless and facing a 2 to 3 grade level academic deficit, Michael realized the potential for technolo
gy as a great equalizer for students with special needs.
As he and his children’s services team developed innovative therapy techniques for child witnesses to domestic violence, Michael continued to explore ways to enhance therapies and education through the use of technology.
For the past 10 years Michael has served as the IT Director at the Hillel School of Tampa. His philosophy is to discontinue the old educational technology designs where computers exist in the vacuum of a computer lab in favor of total classroom integration of technology. His design goal is for technology to be as ubiquitous and unobtrusive as a common pencil in every classroom.
Contact Michael Gamson
Walther Hetzer, PhD
Senior Education Consultant
A graduate of the University of Vienna with over thirty years experience in international education, Walther has recently set up a new international boarding school in Austria. Over the years, he has been highly involved in architecture and innovative school design. He likes the German word “Lernlandschaften” (learning landscapes does not quite do it justice), and the founding of the St. Gilgen International School has provided opportunities to create unique synergies between the school, the host community, and the surrounding region. Recently, Walther has joined the FNI team on the Campus Development Project of the International School of Brussels.
During his career, Walther has taught at the University of Ottawa and the New School for Social Research in New York. Within international schools, he has taught International Baccalaureate History, Philosophy and Theory of Knowledge. He has served at various times as Examiner, Teacher, Head of Humanities, High School Head, and Director of leading international schools such as the United Nations School in New York, the United World College of the Adriatic, the Vienna International School, the International School of Brussels and the American International School of Abu Dhabi.
Schools engaged in the Self Study for Accreditation and schools assessing the effectiveness of their learning spaces travel many common paths. Walther is an experienced Accreditation Advisor for the Council of International Schools and has chaired numerous Visiting Teams. Walther has served terms on the Boards of the European Council of International Schools, the International Schools Association and the Emirates College for Higher Education and has given numerous workshops and presentations around the word.
Walther has always been influenced by the educational philosophy of Kurt Hahn (founder of Gordonstoun and mentor of the United World College Movement), who combined the striving for academic excellence with an emphasis on sharing outward-bound and social service activities with all students.
Experienced as a journalist and exhibiting photographer, Walther is bilingual in German and English, fluent in Italian and French, with adequate Spanish, some Modern Greek, and very beginning Arabic. Interested in all forms of communication between people and schools, Walther is on the Board of The Alliance for International Education, which endeavours to establish new links in furthering international education.
Contact Walther Hetzer
Jane Morelli Johnson
Senior Education Consultant
Jane Morelli Johnson, presently Middle Division Head at Shorecrest Preparatory School in St. Petersburg, Florida, served as the Middle School Director at Duke School, in Durham, NC, for three years. During this time, she has seen Fielding Nair’s award-winning design at Duke School go from paper to the successful implementation of the completed new learning spaces. “We moved the entire Middle School in three days over a long weekend! Now the challenge is working with teachers and students to optimize the use of these spaces and communicate their purpose to families.” Jane’s on the ground knowledge of building new educational environments that support different ways of learning makes her uniquely suited to help others doing this work. Prior to Duke School, Jane was the Elementary Principal at The Samuel Scheck Hillel Community Day School in North Miami Beach Florida where she worked with teachers to redesign their learning environments to be more student centered and collaboration focused. She has served on NAIS accreditation committees and consults in school design, teacher leadership, differentiated instruction, and creating interdisciplinary learning. Jane has spent thirty years in the independent school world of progressive education and has taught every grade K-12.
Jane’s career includes an Assistant Headship at the Town Hill School in Lakeville, CT where she helped design student centered progressive learning environments. Jane has also taught middle school and high school in Hawaii and Colorado. She was trained in the International Baccalaureate in Brussels, Belgium, and taught in the IB programme at the American Overseas School of Rome, Italy.
One of Jane’s unique gifts is her ability to “talk constructivist learning” in a down to earth way to parents, students, and school administrators and faculty. Her school design workshops are practical and support schools in transition from conventional to progressive learning models. The focus of Jane’s work with students, parents, and teachers continues to be the implementation of solid school design that reinforces constructivist learning pedagogy. The challenge is working with all constituents to understand and use progressive learning environments, communicate the educational Best Practice of such environments, and provide training in space use and curriculum development for such unique learning spaces.
Ms. Johnson is a member of the American Association of University Women, the National Association of Independent Schools, and the National Council of Teachers of English. She has been named in “Who’s Who of Outstanding American Educators”.
Contact Jane Morelli Johnson
Senior Education Consultant, Fielding Nair International
As a leading education specialist and independent consultant with 30 years experience, Gareth brings a wealth
of knowledge and a dynamic approach to all areas of education. He is involved in a wide range of UK and
Gareth was a highly experienced school leader. As a ‘trouble shooting’ Headteacher he transformed two schools
in London and was also sent into one of the UK’s most notorious failing secondary schools as part of a very
successful Headship Team . He also led the transformation of a school in the Cayman Islands. One school he
led quickly became a case study on the Standards Site for changing community perceptions. Amongst many
accolades, his leadership was described by HMI (Her Majesty’s Inspector of Schools) as “outstanding”.
Gareth works as the senior education consultant for a number of major construction companies advising on
numerous significant school design and build projects across the U.K. He worked as Head of Education for several
successful Building Schools of the Future bids across the UK. He has worked on ‘all sides of the table’ including
client side, bidding teams and representing sponsors in the design of new academies. Mainly working on high
school projects, he has also helped develop a number of projects for primary and special needs schools.
Gareth was previously the Senior Strategic Education Advisor to the Minister of Education of the Cayman Islands,
working at the highest levels of Government and playing a pivotal role in transforming the Cayman Islands
education system including the design of ‘cutting edge’ new secondary and primary learning environments. He
also acted as Chief Education Officer of the Cayman Islands during a period of transition.
He is a regular guest contributor to the Scottish Government’s Learning Technologies Blog as well as
several ‘future of education’ seminars. Gareth is often quoted in a variety of media interviews and articles
and speaks and chairs conferences. Future 2011 speaking engagements include seminars at the cefpi World
Conference in Nashville and Education Suppliers Conference in Texas. Gareth regularly attends the invitation
only WISE Conference in Doha.
Gareth is friends with, and works alongside many of the worlds leading education visionaries. He works
extensively on a variety of projects with Professor Stephen Heppell especially but also with Prakash Nair.
Gareth is Education Lead for ‘Class of Your Own’ and an Associate of ‘Connecting Learning’. He is pleased to have
been Chair of Judges for the 2010 British Council for School Environments Industry Awards recognizing Excellence
and Innovation in School Design.
Gareth has recently been on numerous work related trips to America, Germany and Qatar and recently been named in
numerous bids, by a variety of companies, for work throughout the UK and internationally from South Korea to Russia
and Australia, Trinidad through to Mongolia.
“Gareth Long is a visionary educator. His quiet leadership and passionate commitment for reform have been
important drivers in the amazing educational transformation now happening in the Cayman Islands. Gareth has
a rare talent for bringing together diverse interest groups and getting them to work collaboratively towards a
common goal…” Prakash Nair, Fielding Nair International
Contact Gareth Long
Susan J. Wolff, Ed. D.
Senior Planning Consultant, Fielding Nair International
Dr. Wolff is a Senior Planning Consultant with Fielding Nair International. She serves currently as the Dean of Instruction at
Columbia Gorge Community College, located in The Dalles, Oregon. Prior to this position, Susan directed the Professional Development System at
Oregon State University and coordinated the national research project, New Designs for Career and Technical Education at the Secondary and
Postsecondary Levels. The latter project was included in the original scope of the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education,
a five-university consortium funded through the U. S. Department of Education. Wolff has been a community college or university instructional
administrator for over 25 years. Dr. Wolff is well known for her coalition building among education, business, industry, and community leaders.
Other areas of specialty include training, workforce and economic development; distance learning and instructional technology; faculty
development; continuing education; and program development.
The focus of her doctoral research was in the design features of the physical learning environment that support collaborative,
and led to the formation of her own business, Wolff Designs. Dr. Wolff has worked with school districts, community colleges, and four-year institutions of higher education across the country in educational and facilities planning including master facility planning, pre-design, design, and renovation projects. Her work in this area and in career and technical education has resulted in several publications and invitations to present and chair conferences, both nationally and internationally.
Dr. Wolff is a member of the American Association of Community Colleges, National Council of Instructional Administrators,
Association of Career and Technical Education, National Council of Workforce Education, and the Council of Educational Facility Planners,
International. Susan has been invited by the American Institute of Architects to be a juror for the 2005 School Design Awards, was a juror for
the Washington State Council of Educational Facility Planners school design awards in 2004, has been a reviewer for the Design Share/School
Construction News design awards the last three years, http://www.designshare.com/articles/article.asp?article=103,
and co-chaired the American Institute of Architects Committee on Architecture for Education national conference in 2004. Two of the projects
Susan has participated in, the Canby High School Applied Technology Center and Cy-Fair Community College, have received several national and
Contact Susan J. Wolff