TEACHx 2026

Heather M. Brown is a Learning Designer with more than a decade of experience supporting graduate and professional studies programs in not‑for‑profit higher education. She joined the Distance Learning team as a contractor in 2022 and transitioned to a full‑time role in 2023. Her design practice is grounded in a long teaching career that spans face‑to‑face, hybrid, and fully online modalities, beginning in 2004 as a graduate teaching assistant. Heather holds a PhD in English with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Maryland, College Park; an MA in English from the University of North Carolina–Wilmington; and a BA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Hollins University. Inspired by a passion for improving teaching and learning, she partners closely with subject matter experts to build engaging, research‑informed learning experiences for adult learners.