College of Global Futures welcomes new leaders, faculty

Arizona State University’s College of Global Futures has added to its ranks with a variety of experts who will help drive its vision for a vibrant future on a thriving, healthy planet.

The new leaders and faculty are bringing an array of experience in areas such as digital technologies, entrepreneurship, human-environment interaction and equity. Together, they will broaden the college’s ability to prepare students and faculty with a holistic understanding of their relationship with the planet and build a better future for all of its inhabitants.

“The new leaders and faculty in the College of Global Futures add expertise in a variety of fields that, taken together, enhance the college’s ability to uncover mechanisms that will improve the world today and especially the world tomorrow,” says Peter Schlosser, vice president and vice provost of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and dean of the College of Global Futures.

“Collectively, their expertise will further the development of pathways toward a world with opportunities for coming generations. Immediately, these appointments will add new knowledge areas where the burgeoning generation — our students — will gain access to views and concepts that inform a more comprehensive education,” he says.

Miki Caul Kittilson 

Kittilson is the college’s newly appointed vice dean and brings her experiences in leadership and in equity and inclusion to the role.

She is the principal investigator of the ASU ADVANCE Institutional Transformation project, which works to support inclusion and success for the university’s faculty in accordance with the ASU Charter.

The program’s goal is to increase the number, visibility and success of women and faculty of color in STEM fields at all levels of the university.

Kittilson’s research centers on inclusion in democracy, with an emphasis on gender justice and women’s representation in governments worldwide.

Sharon Hall

Hall will serve as the associate dean of student success for the college. An ecosystem scientist, she researches the ways that humans and the environment affect each other, from the biodiversity of cities and wildlife at home to urban air pollution and communities’ ability to adapt to rapid environmental change.

Susanne Neuer

Neuer is the first director of the newly established School of Ocean Futures. She is a biological oceanographer and marine ecologist who studies the role of ocean life in the carbon cycle and in sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide. Her group has also studied sea ice organisms in the Arctic, the role of microorganisms in colonizing microplastic pollution in the ocean, and harmful algal blooms in our local reservoirs.

Neuer has been active in advancing women in science and academia; she has served on the national board of the Association for Women in Science and as president of ASU’s Faculty Women’s Association, where she is still active on the executive board.

Eusebio Scornavacca

Scornavacca begins his role as the interim director of the college’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society this fall. He is concurrently a professor in the school and in the Thunderbird School of Global Management. His research — spanning multiple industries and drawing from collaborators worldwide — focuses on innovation, entrepreneurship and ecosystems in the digital space, as well as information and communications technology for development and innovation policy.

Michael Dorsey 

Dorsey has been named the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service Chair and is a professor of practice in the College of Global Futures.

He is a globally recognized expert on sustainable finance, renewable energy and the environment. He has collaborated with the United Nations for over two decades and was a previous appointee on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Advisory Committee. 

Dorsey is a member of the Club of Rome, a nonprofit that brings thought and business leaders together to discuss global issues, and sits on the board of the Sierra Club, an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 states.

 Six additional faculty members join the college this fall. The School for the Future of Innovation in Society welcomes Professor Itty Abraham, Associate Professor Annette Lee, Assistant Professor Faheem Hussain and Associate Professor Lauren Ruffin (who is also part of the School of Arts, Media and Engineering). The School of Complex Adaptive Systems welcomes Associate Research Professor Michael Simeone. The School of Sustainability welcomes Assistant Professor Andrea Rissing.