Our Staff

Bill Baird, corporate advertising manager, came to Inside Higher Ed with more than 20 years of marketing and media sales experience. His is the principal owner of SalesConcepts Associates, an independent media sales organization based in Southern California. He has served the education market most of this time where he managed business-to-business media sales for The Chronicle of Higher Education and Education Week. Prior to that, he spent time in New York handling consumer media sales for The Atlantic Monthly and Esquire. During his spare time, he enjoys working as a private college admissions counselor for high school athletes. Bill graduated from St. Lawrence University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in English and economics. He resides in Westlake Village with his wife, Suzanne. His two children are attending the University of Pennsylvania.

Kathlene Collins, publisher, is one of the three founders of Inside Higher Ed. Kathlene spent 20 years in the recruitment advertising department of The Chronicle of Higher Education, where she became excited about the evolution of recruitment made possible by the Internet. She developed The Chronicle’s recruitment site, winner of several industry awards for excellence. A regular speaker on recruiting issues at higher education and publishing industry conferences, Kathlene is a leading authority on recruiting in higher education. She grew up in suburban Washington, D.C., attended Montgomery College and Catholic University. She continues her higher education in one of Washington’s longest-standing book groups (15 years, 150 books, and counting). Kathlene lives in Washington with her husband, David Lowenstein, and their 9-year old son, Jack.

Will Collins, director of technology, came to Inside Higher Ed from Colorado, with more than 15 years of computer experience with companies such as Edmunds.com, CompUSA, Experience Internet, Mijenix, Ontrack, Kroll, and VCommunications. Will studied at the University of Dallas, Murdoch University (Australia), Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), Semester at Sea (University of Pittsburgh) and the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. He has traveled to and photographed more than 37 countries, making use of his studies in Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and international affairs.

Sarah Craft, marketing assistant, joined Inside Higher Ed in September 2008. She recently graduated from Towson University with a degree in mass communications and public relations. Sarah is an Army brat and has lived all over the United States and spent three years in Germany as a child. She now resides in Olney, Md. and hopes to move into DC. In her spare time she loves watching college football, playing with her mini-dachshund, Chloe, going to the beach and spending time with her friends and family.

Jason Easley, advertising sales manager, joined Inside Higher Ed in January 2007. He graduated in 2000 from Shepherd University, where he majored in communications and played basketball on a scholarship. He previously worked at Hanley Wood as an account executive. In addition to playing basketball, Jason enjoys spending time with his daughter, Madison, live jazz, reading, and traveling to his home state of West Virginia. He currently resides in the Huntington area of Alexandria, Va.

Stephen Egts, art director, joined Inside Higher Ed in November 2005. His background includes print, Web, animation, film and video. In the past year he has worked with such clients as General Electric, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Toon Boom Animation. Stephen also published his first article in the November 2005 issue of PC Plus Magazine. After graduating from Maryland Institute College of Art with a bachelor of fine art in 1994, he tried a wide assortment of disciplines and worked in almost every type of place known to man that would possibly have an art department. In his spare time, Stephen geeks on new animation software and flies kites.

Serena Golden, editorial assistant, joined Inside Higher Ed in July 2008. She has a B.A. in English from Reed College but has also attended Humboldt State University, American College Dublin, Houston Community College and College of the Redwoods. Her similarly diverse career background includes stints at a hedge fund, as a nanny, and one ill-fated month as a waitress. She shares a sweet apartment in Washington with her friend Fiona.

Andy Guess, reporter, came to Inside Higher Ed from National Public Radio, where he worked on the organization’s podcasting initiative. His first journalism assignment, in sixth grade, was a computer game review for The Washington Post. Since then he has sought to combine his love of computers and new media with writing. He graduated from Cornell University, where he edited The Cornell Daily Sun and dabbled in documentaries. While there, he developed his interest in higher ed issues, becoming a contributor to the MetaEzra alumni blog after prolonging graduation to January 2006. He enjoys obscure Eastern European art cinema, riding trolleys and utilizing his Swiss passport.

Lori Holtz, administrative assistant, joined Inside Higher Ed in September 2007. She is a recent graduate of The University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications. While not busy exploring her new home, Lori can be found at her local coffee shop or eating burritos.

Scott Jaschik, editor, is one of the three founders of Inside Higher Ed. With Doug Lederman, he leads the editorial operations of Inside Higher Ed, overseeing news content, opinion pieces, resources, and interactive features. Scott is a leading voice on higher education issues, quoted regularly in publications nationwide, and publishing articles on colleges in publications such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Salon, and elsewhere. He has been a judge or screener for the National Magazine Awards, the Online Journalism Awards, the Folio Editorial Excellence Awards, and the Education Writers Association Awards. Scott is a mentor in the community college fellowship program of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media. From 1999-2003, Scott was editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Previously at The Chronicle, he held numerous other positions and his reporting work was honored by Investigative Reporters and Editors and The Washington Monthly. Scott grew up in Rochester, N.Y., and graduated from Cornell University in 1985. He lives in Washington.

David Larkin, Web site administrator, joined Inside Higher Ed with 10 years of experience in Web site management and development. He is a graduate of Virginia Union University, where he was a major in sociology. In his spare time, David enjoys producing music, art shows, hanging out on the beach and watching the History Channel. He lives in Maryland with his wife, Cheryl, their 10-year old son, Ian, and their dog, Zoey.

Doug Lederman, editor, is one of the three founders of Inside Higher Ed. With Scott Jaschik, he leads the editorial operations of Inside Higher Ed, overseeing news content, opinion pieces, resources, and interactive features. Doug is among the leading journalists on higher education in the country, speaking widely on the topic, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, the Nieman Foundation Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, and the Princeton Alumni Weekly. Doug was managing editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education from 1999 to 2003. Before that, Doug had worked at The Chronicle since 1986 in a variety of roles, first as an athletics reporter and editor. His work at The Chronicle won two National Awards for Education Reporting from the Education Writers Association. He began his career as a news clerk at The New York Times. He grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and graduated in 1984 from Princeton University. Doug lives with his wife, Sandy, and their two children in Bethesda, Md.

Laura McFarland, vice president of sales, came to Inside Higher Ed with more than 20 years experience in publishing and advertising. Most recently she was the business director for The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Chronicle of Philanthropy, where she managed the sales and marketing activities for recruitment advertising. Prior to that she spent 10 years handling advertising at Legal Times, an award-winning weekly owned by American Lawyer Media. She began her professional career by working in a number of advertising and marketing positions at obscure associations around the Washington area. Laura graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles and received her master’s degree in marketing from the University of Maryland University College. She lives in Arlington, Va. with her husband, Dennis, and their two children, Annemarie and Timmy.

Scott McLemee, Essayist at Large, writes the Intellectual Affairs column. In 2004, the National Book Critics Circle honored Scott with its annual Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, for his work appearing in Bookforum, The Common Review, Newsday, and The Washington Post. He writes frequently for The American Prospect and The New York Times Book Review. From 2001-5, Scott wrote for the The Chronicle of Higher Education, covering developments in the humanities. His work included long features on scholarly trends and profiles of important figures. Previously he was a contributing editor for Lingua Franca. In 2000, the editors named “Invisible, Inc.” (his article on Thomas Pynchon scholarship) one of the top 10 articles it had published over the previous 10 years. A broad selection of his work is available at his personal Web site. In 2008, he was elected to a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the National Book Critics Circle. He lives in Washington with his wife, Rita Tehan, and their two cats.

David Moltz, reporter, joined Inside Higher Ed in June 2008 after graduating from the University of Virginia with a double major in English and music. On Grounds, he was both arts & entertainment editor and senior associate editor for the investigative reporting section with The Cavalier Daily. While there, he was honored by the Virginia Press Association in 2005 for his music criticism and was named the paper’s “most outstanding writer” in 2008. In Charlottesville, he was a news intern and then contributor for alternative newsweekly C-Ville Weekly. Additionally, he helped produce a live daily newscast and hosted a weekly rock and roll show on community radio station 91.1 WTJU-FM. He currently resides in Washington.

Rick Plotkin, senior account manager, joined Inside Higher Ed after a six-year stint at The Chronicle of Higher Education as an account manager in recruitment advertising. He comes to Inside Higher Ed as a former insider in higher education with eight years of experience in college admissions at George Washington University (M.A. ‘95, human resource development) and four years at Vanderbilt University (B.A. ‘86, economics). Rick has presented many sessions at a myriad of CUPA-HR regional conferences, as well as national conferences. Rick grew up in Silver Spring, Md. and now lives in Old Town Alexandria with his spouse, Marguerite Rippy, associate professor of English at Marymount University, his son, Merrill O’Neill and their dog, Hobi.

Elizabeth Redden, reporter, came to Inside Higher Ed from her home state of Delaware, where she covered K-12 and higher education as a daily newspaper reporter. Her freelance pieces have appeared in The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Orion Magazine, Abroad View Magazine and The Swarthmore College Bulletin. Elizabeth, who has also taught journalism and essay writing to high school students, is a graduate of Swarthmore College. In addition to reading and writing, Elizabeth enjoys running, traveling and being outdoors. She lives in Northern Virginia.

Samantha Smith, account assistant, joined Inside Higher Ed in 2008. She graduated from George Washington University in 2005 with a B.A. in English. While at George Washington, she spent a semester abroad in London, and continues to indulge her Anglophilia by reading Oscar Wilde and watching bad British sitcoms. Sam has previously worked in print advertising and public relations. She enjoys traveling, going to the zoo, dining al fresco, and political scandals. Sam is originally from Baltimore, and currently resides in Cleveland Park.

Jack Stripling, reporter, joined Inside Higher Ed after covering two sports-crazed universities in the Southeast. As a reporter for The Gainesville Sun and the Opelika-Auburn News, he wrote about the University of Florida and Auburn University, respectively. Jack’s stories about the resignation of Auburn’s president, and an ongoing governance battle at the university, made him a finalist for the Education Writers Association’s top honor, the Fred M. Hechinger Prize. Jack holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Florida State University and a master’s in literature from Auburn. He digs Raymond Carver stories, Miles Davis, Wilco, The Beatles and Steely Dan. He hates beets.

Clint Tanner, account manager, joined Inside Higher Ed in 2007, with more than 10 years of experience in advertising sales and public relations. Publications and organizations he has represented include Museum News, The Washington Examiner, Intel Corp., the Discovery Channel, Channel One News, and Science News, where he worked closely with higher education officials and Nobel laureates. Originally from Los Angeles, Clint graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a double major in history and screenwriting, and he continues to work with theater groups in the Washington area. Clint enjoys spending time with his family, world travel, documentaries, playing basketball, and eating — he is a registered member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating. Clint lives in Bethesda, Md. with his fiancé, Caitlin Goldberg, and their daughters, Sophie and Zoe.

Bill Trombley, community college account manager, joined Inside Higher Ed in September 2007, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience as a communications, marketing and sales professional. He began his career in broadcasting, producing television programs for PBS and syndicating radio programs nationally for the Broadcast Equities Group. He spent the better part of his career in San Francisco, where he had a hand in launching two high tech public relations agencies, a heavy metal record label, and a publishing company specializing in fund raising for local communities. In 2005 he followed his lifelong passion for education and joined the admissions department for Gibbs College. Bill’s interest in community colleges comes from experience. He credits Macomb Community College and Oakland Community College, both in Michigan, with teaching him the culinary arts and the classics, and the difference between a roux and shrew, respectively. Ohlone College, in California, set him on the path to the University of California at Berkeley in 1997, where he spent the next few years specializing in Asian Studies and the Chinese language. Bill grew up in Grosse Pointe, Mich. and now lives in Bethesda, Md., where he is endlessly learning about being a dad to his four children and husband to his wife, Dara.

Mark Yucha, vice president of finance, came to Inside Higher Ed in 2005, with over 14 years of accounting and finance experience. He started his career in Philadelphia with KPMG Peat Marwick and moved to Inside Higher Ed after nearly nine years with NVR, a large national homebuilder and mortgage company, where he served in various financial capacities, most recently as a financial analyst specializing in business planning and technology issues. He graduated from the Pennsylvania State University, and lives in Washington.