GV Faculty Focus

Leah Breen, Associate Vice President for Education, Innovation and School Services joins us for our latest discussion.   Leah joined GVSU’s Charter Schools Office in 2022 and has provided strategic leadership for our team that oversees one of the nation’s largest portfolios of charter schools.  Before joining GVSU, Leah held numerous key positions within the Michigan Department of Education, and K-12 education, where she drove policy development and grant management to support achievement, innovation and lifelong learning.  In this episode, Leah talks about the Charter Schools Office celebrating its 30th anniversary, which includes an initiative called Impact 30 which offers grant opportunities for GVSU faculty. 

We're kicking off the academic year by welcoming Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Jennifer Drake, PhD  to the podcast.   Provost Drake came to GVSU in 2020 to serve as Dean of our College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.  In 2024, she became Acting Provost and was named permanent provost in April 2025.    She’s spent her career in Higher Education, including serving as provost at the Evergreen State College and earned her bachelor's degree in religious studies at Brown University and her masters and PhD in literature and creative writing at Binghamton University.  In our discussion, we learn about how these experiences have prepared her for this role and made a positive impact on her leadership style. 

Jonathan Engelsma, PhD., is a professor of Computer Science in the College of Computing. He serves as the Graduate Program Director for Software Engineering and is the Founding Director of the Applied Computing Institute.  He teaches courses in distributed systems, mobile computing and web development and his research focuses on mobile computing and web and distributed systems.  Engelsma is a GVSU graduate who enjoyed a career in the private sector before coming to GVSU to teach in 2009. 

Robin Spring, M.A. Is an associate professor of advertising and public relations in GVSU's School of Communications.  Robin was the recipient of the Grand Valley State University Pew Teaching Excellence Award in 2020 and brings the practical knowledge gained through more than 20 years of industry experience to the courses she teaches.  Professor Spring launched the GVSU Advertising/Public Relations Biometrics Lab and also advises the GVSU National Student Advertising Competition teams and under her leadership the team has earned multiple first-place district wins and national recognition. 

Dr. Susan Cleghorn is a professor in GVSU’s College of Health Professions and Director of the Post-Professional Doctorate Program in Occupational Therapy. Since joining GVSU in 2008 and in 2018 earned earning the Pew Excellence in Teaching Award. She’s known for developing unique ways to connect her scheduled teaching, scholarly areas of interest, and service, frequently tying these areas together by focusing on community.

Sanjivan Manoharan, Ph.D is an Associate Professor in GVSU’s Padnos College of Engineering. Known for his ambition and dedication, Sanjivan was honored with the 2024 Pew Award for Teaching Excellence. As the faculty advisor for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, he leads student teams tackling real-world space challenges in NASA competitions. With degrees from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati, he’s been shaping the future of engineering at GVSU since 2016. 

Jaideep Motwani, Ph.D. is the department chair and a professor in the Management department at GVSU’s Seidman College of Business. Jaideep has dedicated 34 years to shaping the next generation of business leaders at GVSU. He is also a prolific researcher who has been published nearly 200 times and was recently ranked 4th among Highly Ranked Scholars for his lifetime of scholarship.

Matthew Daley, Ph.D.  is a Professor of History in GVSU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.  He’s an urban historian who has been a member of the Grand Valley faculty since 2004 and focuses his work on the history of the modern United States and topics including affordable housing, company towns and the impact of race, class and labor in these areas.