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Heather N. Fedesco serves as Director for Academic Affairs. In this role, she provides direction and oversight for initiatives and programs that address educational priorities of the academic veterinary medical community. Her work includes supporting the ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ Academic Affairs Committee, and developing, implementing, and evaluating ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ educational initiatives and programs, as well as coordinating activities relevant to student and faculty affairs.

Fedesco has spent over 15 years in higher education as an instructor, scholar, and education consultant. Prior to joining ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡, Fedesco worked at Vanderbilt University’s Center for Teaching and Purdue University’s Center for Instructional Excellence. In these roles, she applied evidence-based change management strategies to support higher education change initiatives. She also developed, facilitated, and evaluated educational professional development programming focused on helping faculty, graduate students, and postdocs acquire and refine effective instructional skills and strategies.

She also held grant-funded research positions at University of Georgia and Colorado College. Her research focuses on identifying how interpersonal relationships and instructional communication improve student motivation and academic outcomes.

Fedesco earned a PhD and MA degree in Interpersonal Communication at Purdue University. As a graduate student at Purdue, she spent four years serving as Assistant Course Director of Fundamentals of Speech Communication, one of the nation’s largest undergraduate public speaking courses.