Kara Finnigan named a 2026-2027 fellow of the Academic Leadership Program in the Big Ten Academic Alliance 

The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) Academic Leadership Program (ALP) in 2026-27 will include five new fellows from the University of Michigan—among them, Associate Dean and Professor of Education at the Marsal Family School of Education, Dr. Kara Finnigan.

The BTAA is the academic consortium of the Big Ten universities and the United States’ pre-eminent model for effective collaboration among research universities. ALP is an intensive professional development experience designed to address the diverse and evolving landscape of higher education. ALP provides fellows with context and perspective to succeed in academic administration at major research universities.

The full class of 2026-2027 U-M ALP fellows includes:

Kara Finnigan - Associate Dean and Professor of Education, Marsal Family School of Education

Kelley Kidwell - Professor of Biostatistics and Interim Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, School of Public Health

Barbra A. Meek - University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, Associate Dean for Social Sciences, Professor of Anthropology and Professor of Linguistics, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Qiaozhu Mei - Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, Professor of Information, School of Information and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, College of Engineering

Arthur Verhoogt - Arthur F Thurnau Professor, Associate Dean for Humanities and Professor of Papyrology and Greek, Department of Classical Studies, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts