Claudia Rebola

I have been in higher education throughout my 20-year career, and I am already a full professor, which is the highest rank you can get, and I consider myself quite young for such. I have been in different leadership positions at different institutions, and currently I serve as senior associate dean, which is equivalent to vice dean, at the University of Cincinnati. Our college holds a high reputation, internationally known as a destination for getting a degree in the creative disciplines. What got me here is my experience, my rolling up the sleeves and having purpose. I have been in major institutions throughout my career, including Georgia Institute of Technology and Rhode Island School of Design, which is the number one school for design in the world, not just North America or United States. I am a strong administrator, an excellent researcher, excellent professor, with great mentorship skills to enable students to find their path, their gap in life to exercise their creative skills. My work is all about intersecting the bubbles of design, technology, health, and vulnerable populations. That is why you get to hear projects from me such as working a lot with the aging population and robotics, or the Nalabox and the opioid crisis. One of my biggest accomplishments has been working with colleagues from Brown University Emergency Medicine, and together we co-founded Nalabox, which changed the narrative of saving lives from overdose in America by coming up with community-based approaches to save lives. My team's work has been pervasive. We gave the rights, since we are academics, for others to continue our efforts. Last year, my university finally got to get one Nalabox in each building on campus. I have been recognized by the Reds in Cincinnati several times for my efforts against the opioid crisis. I think I have been a change agent across institutions, always working the what if, why not, and being just a change agent.