Shaun Kellogg Named Interim Executive Director, Friday Institute; Distinguished Professor Hollylynne Lee Named Interim Associate Dean, Friday Institute, College of Education

Shaun Kellogg, the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation’s senior director of Program Evaluation and Education Research, will begin serving as the Friday Institute’s interim executive director June 1. To assist in the interim duties, NC State College of Education Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Education and Friday Institute Senior Faculty Fellow Hollylynne Lee will serve as interim associate dean, Friday Institute, College of Education. 

“The Friday Institute is unique in so many ways, but one that has always stood out to me is its role in bridging the gap between research and practice, in bringing together scholars and educators to develop innovative solutions to some of our state’s stickiest problems,” said Kellogg. “It’s truly an honor to serve in the role as interim executive director, to help preserve and build upon this incredible legacy left behind by past leadership and to carry forward the impactful work of our talented staff and faculty at the Friday Institute.”

“The Friday Institute has evolved and grown tremendously since its inception. My work has been part of the core mission of the institute to advance educational solutions through technological innovations that support teaching and learning. I care a lot about the ways we impact education through the college and the Friday Institute,” Lee said. “I look forward to helping maintain and strengthen the synergistic connections between research and programs in the College of Education and approaches and talent within the Friday Institute to respond to educational needs in North Carolina and the nation.”

Kellogg and Lee will assume their new roles following the retirement of Associate Dean and Friday Institute Executive Director Hiller Spires June 1 after a 43-year career in education, including over 35 years at NC State’s College of Education.

More About Shaun Kellogg

Since joining the Friday Institute and College of Education in 2011, Kellogg’s work has focused on helping North Carolina educators use data to understand and improve the impact of their work. Kellogg has led research and evaluation efforts for numerous innovative initiatives such as the U.S. Department of Education-funded Online Communities of Practice, North Carolina’s Digital Learning Plan and educational programming by PBS North Carolina. More recently, Kellogg’s research and evaluation efforts have focused on promising programs such as NC Education Corps and Summer Bridge Academies, which are designed to help students recover academically, socially and emotionally from the impacts of the pandemic. 

In addition to his work supporting educational organizations in North Carolina and beyond, Kellogg has led efforts to train current and future scholars in utilizing new sources of data and analytical approaches to understand and improve student learning. He recently led the development of the College of Education’s online Graduate Certificate in Learning Analytics and serves as principal investigator for the Learning Analytics in STEM Education Research (LASER) Institute, funded by the National Science Foundation. 

Whether training the next generation of scholars or working with practitioners to improve their impact, Kellogg’s work is driven by a desire to make learning more engaging, effective and equitable for students of all ages. 

A former Peace Corps volunteer and elementary educator who received several awards for his work in public schools, Kellogg earned a B.S. from the University of Michigan, teaching certification from Michigan State University, his M.A. in educational technology from Western Michigan University, and his Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from NC State University, where he was the recipient of the first William C. Friday Graduate Student Fellowship for his research examining peer networks in massive open online courses for educators (MOOC-Eds). 

More About Hollylynne Lee

For the past two decades, Lee’s research has focused on the learning of statistics, probability and data science with the goal of understanding how students learn those concepts and how that learning translates into educational opportunities. Using millions of dollars in grant funding, her projects have developed and disseminated free online teacher education courses, research-based multimedia materials and open educational resources. She teaches courses and works with students at all levels in the Department of STEM Education in the College of Education.

In January, Lee was named the 2022 recipient of Baylor University’s prestigious Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching. As the Cherry Award recipient, Lee – who is the first NC State faculty member to win the honor – will teach in residence at Baylor University during the spring 2023 semester with a $250,000 award. 

In 2020, she was also named an American Statistical Association Fellow and received the UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Lee, who joined the College of Education in 2000, served on the initial faculty advisory board for the Friday Institute and is currently a senior faculty fellow at the Friday Institute and director of the Hub for Innovation and Research in Statistics Education. She earned her B.S. in secondary mathematics education from The Pennsylvania State University, her M.A.Ed. in secondary education-mathematics from William & Mary and her Ph.D. in mathematics education from the University of Virginia. 

About the Friday Institute 

The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation advances K-12 education through innovation in teaching, learning and leadership by bringing together students, teachers, researchers, policymakers and educational professionals to foster collaborations that improve education for all learners. The Friday Institute is part of NC State’s College of Education, one of the leading land-grant colleges of education in the nation. Visit fi.ncsu.edu to learn more.