The National College of Education welcomes seven new faculty and staff who bring a breadth of expertise that strengthens the reach and impact of our college. We are pleased to introduce you to the most recent members of NCE’s talented ranks.
Brian Morris
For many years Brian Morris has worked part-time supporting M.A.T. field supervisors and coaches for NCE’s Office of Field Experience. Now joining the college full-time, Morris will serve as a Field Experience and Residency Program Administrator. In this role, he will provide site-based support for school partners and residents, including Chicago Public Schools, East St. Louis, North Chicago District 187, and Evanston District 65. Morris also brings his 14 years of experience in PK-12 settings as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, and administrator to the NCE residency team.
Chris Lilly
The new Director of NCE Online Programming, Chris Lilly comes to National Louis University from Concordia University Chicago, where he most recently served as Assistant Dean of Academic Quality for the College of Business. Lilly seeks to understand how curriculum, instruction, assessment, and technologies intersect. He has published and presented on topics ranging from instructional and literacy coaching to managing organizational change and updating the classroom for the 21st century. In addition to his ten years of experience in higher education, Lilly taught for twenty years in secondary education. He holds a Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Concordia University Chicago, a M.Ed. in Human Development and Learning from DePaul University, and a B.A. in Secondary Education/English from DePaul University.
Connie Obrochta
Connie Obrochta brings her experience as a reading specialist, literacy coach, and Kohl Academy Fellow to NCE’s the Reading Recovery Center as a new Reading Recovery Teacher Leader. An active leader in literacy education, Obrochta has served as President of The Suburban Council of the International Reading Association, she is a member of NLU's Reading Leadership Institute, and she received the Corwin Literacy Leader Award for 2021 from the International Literacy Association. Her research interests include early literacy acquisition, vocabulary development, and leveraging children's literature to support social justice and equity. Obrochta earned her M.Ed. in Reading from National Louis University.
Dana Hagerman
Dana Hagerman joins the Reading Recovery Center as an assistant professor. She comes to us from Edgewood College's School of Education, where she served as associate professor and associate dean. An expert in early literacy, Hagerman holds a Ph.D. from UW-Madison in Curriculum and Instruction. Her research interests include qualitative research in early literacy development, including a longitudinal study of language and literacy practices of immigrant students and their families over time and across spaces. More recently, she has studied literacy in personalized learning classrooms and teaching for, with, and about, social justice in the middle school setting.
Hyeju Han
Hyeju Han joins NCE as an assistant professor for Curriculum & Instruction. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in Teaching, Learning, and Leading. Her research on K-12 digital learning focuses on critical digital literacy practices and instructional approaches in elementary and secondary schools, online reading comprehension, teacher preparation, and teacher learning. Han has worked as an elementary school teacher, university instructor, and research coordinator in various educational settings for culturally, linguistically, and ethnically diverse students. Her passions include creating effective and engaging learning spaces both in-person and online and developing digital learning environments through a lens of social justice and equity.
Molley Buren
Molly Buren is NCE’s newest assistant professor for the Middle Grades and Special Education programs. Before joining NCE, she completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, working as a research study coordinator for Project ASSIST, a longitudinal parent advocacy intervention study with families of youth with autism. Molly's teaching experience includes serving as a special educator working with high school and middle school students in Chicago Public Schools and instructing courses on disability, families, and collaboration at UIC, NLU, and Elmhurst College. Molly holds a Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a M.A.T. from National Louis University, and a B.S. in Sociology from Northwestern University.
Sandra Gonzalez-Adamski
Previously an adjunct instructor for the ESL and Bilingual program, Sandra Gonzalez-Adamski now continues at NCE as an assistant professor. She brings her 20+ years of experience as a bilingual elementary school teacher and a Bilingual and Dual Language Education director to her new role. Gonzalez-Adamski's research interests include Latinx educational attainment and policy issues affecting the Latinx community. She earned her Ed.D. in Curriculum, Advocacy, and Policy and M.A.T. from National Louis University and a B.S. in Speech Communications from Illinois State University.
Virginia "Jeannie" Zeitlin
Virginia "Jeannie" Zeitlin joins NCE as an assistant professor in Special Education after serving as an adjunct faculty member and student teaching program supervisor for the past four years. She has developed and redesigned teacher preparation classes, worked with the Office of Field Experience to assist students with their special education placements, and supported M.A.T. students navigating edTPA preparation, delivery, and submission. Before joining NLU, Zeitlin spent 35 years as a special educator serving as a speech/language pathologist, co-teacher, program and curriculum supervisor, special education director, and assistant superintendent. She completed her Ed.D. in Disability and Equity in Education at National Louis University, and she holds four additional Master's degrees in multiple areas of education.
