- Ann Blackman
- Alaina Doyle
- Gabe Edgar
- Alfred Essa
- Laurie Evans
- Rachel Raidenkov
- Allen Renear
- Emily Rushing
- James Spence
- Mary Suhm
- Nigel Thurlow
- Michele Whitehead
Ann Blackman
Ann Blackman is a MS 2011 Computer Education & Cognitive System graduate, College of Information Department of Learning Technologies. She has also completed UNT’s Graduate Academic Certificate of Community College Leadership. She is the Director of eLearning Centers for Collin College, McKinney TX. In addition, she is an adjunct for the Education department.
Ann Blackman is a MS 2011 Computer Education & Cognitive System graduate, College of Information Department of Learning Technologies. She has also completed UNT’s Graduate Academic Certificate of Community College Leadership. She is the Director of eLearning Centers for Collin College, McKinney TX. In addition, she is an adjunct for the Education department.
Alaina Doyle
Alaina has been in the financial services industry since 2000, later transitioning into and L&D role in 2002. She has held positions such as, facilitator, performance consultant, project manager, instructional designer, and her current role, Instructional Design Senior Manager. In 2008, Alaina earned a BAAS degree. In 2013, Alaina earned two master’s degrees from University of Texas-Arlington in Business Administration and Human Resource Management.
Alaina joined the UNT COI Alumni society in 2011, as a member of the Outstanding Alumni committee, Learning Technologies Alumni President, followed by COI Alumni President. In 2015, Alaina was accepted to the doctoral program in the College of Information at UNT. Her research interests are: organizational theory to include organizational identity and change, leadership, learning, and complexity. She has been married for over 20 years and has four children. Alaina is a veteran of the United States Army, serving seven years on active duty and the Army Reserve.
Alaina has been in the financial services industry since 2000, later transitioning into and L&D role in 2002. She has held positions such as, facilitator, performance consultant, project manager, instructional designer, and her current role, Instructional Design Senior Manager. In 2008, Alaina earned a BAAS degree. In 2013, Alaina earned two master’s degrees from University of Texas-Arlington in Business Administration and Human Resource Management.
Alaina joined the UNT COI Alumni society in 2011, as a member of the Outstanding Alumni committee, Learning Technologies Alumni President, followed by COI Alumni President. In 2015, Alaina was accepted to the doctoral program in the College of Information at UNT. Her research interests are: organizational theory to include organizational identity and change, leadership, learning, and complexity. She has been married for over 20 years and has four children. Alaina is a veteran of the United States Army, serving seven years on active duty and the Army Reserve.
Gabe Edgar
Gabe Edgar is a teacher and program coordinator of English for Speakers of Other Languages at Richland College in Dallas, TX. He also leads Richland’s educator training program for Cooperative Learning, focusing on high-quality groupwork and its effect on interpersonal and intrapersonal development. He’s an alum of Richland College, Stephen F Austin State University (English and History), and the University of North Texas (Linguistics). His academic interests focus on language and mind. He lives with his wife Sandi, dog Heidi, and cat Rube in Richardson, TX.
Gabe Edgar is a teacher and program coordinator of English for Speakers of Other Languages at Richland College in Dallas, TX. He also leads Richland’s educator training program for Cooperative Learning, focusing on high-quality groupwork and its effect on interpersonal and intrapersonal development. He’s an alum of Richland College, Stephen F Austin State University (English and History), and the University of North Texas (Linguistics). His academic interests focus on language and mind. He lives with his wife Sandi, dog Heidi, and cat Rube in Richardson, TX.
Emily Rushing
As the Director of Competitive Intelligence for Haynes and Boone, LLP, an AmLaw 100 firm, Emily leads CI, CRM, Library, and Technology teams in developing information to support client service, firm strategy, competitor and market analysis, lateral recruitment, client service initiatives, and new business development. Our team is responsible for the creation, deployment, and administration of new technologies and resources to provide legal information and market, client and competitor intelligence.
Among our areas of responsibility are: information technologies; firm technology vision and strategy; innovation; legal research; research and business intelligence analysis; intelligence to support firm strategies and growth initiatives; workflow and performance tracking and metrics; reporting to firm management; targeting and market segmentation; client and target profiling; liaising with client service teams, Accounting, Strategic Growth, web development, and KM groups.
Recent speaking engagements include: AALL, Ark, SLA, ILTA, LMA, SCIP, and regional and international professional associations. Emily contributes to several publications, including the International Bar Association (IBA), American Bar Association (ABA), and bar journals. She has also contributed to blogs like 3 Geeks and a Law Blog as an honorary "geek" and other legal industry periodicals. Emily’s hobbies include reading, cooking, and reading about cooking. Her spoiled dog (@winniecorgi) is the boss of her house.
Areas of Experience include: Research; Databases; Instruction; Competitive Intelligence (CI); AI; Business of Law; OSINT; Knowledge Management (KM); Technology; Strategy and Vision; Business Intelligence (BI); Market Intelligence (MI); Law Library; Legal Research; Business Development; CRM; Lexis InterAction; Salesforce; Einstein Analytics; Tableau; Westlaw; Lexis; Survey; Data Science; Statistical Analysis; Law Firms; Project Management (LPM); Process Improvement; Workflow Automation; Change Management
As the Director of Competitive Intelligence for Haynes and Boone, LLP, an AmLaw 100 firm, Emily leads CI, CRM, Library, and Technology teams in developing information to support client service, firm strategy, competitor and market analysis, lateral recruitment, client service initiatives, and new business development. Our team is responsible for the creation, deployment, and administration of new technologies and resources to provide legal information and market, client and competitor intelligence.
Among our areas of responsibility are: information technologies; firm technology vision and strategy; innovation; legal research; research and business intelligence analysis; intelligence to support firm strategies and growth initiatives; workflow and performance tracking and metrics; reporting to firm management; targeting and market segmentation; client and target profiling; liaising with client service teams, Accounting, Strategic Growth, web development, and KM groups.
Recent speaking engagements include: AALL, Ark, SLA, ILTA, LMA, SCIP, and regional and international professional associations. Emily contributes to several publications, including the International Bar Association (IBA), American Bar Association (ABA), and bar journals. She has also contributed to blogs like 3 Geeks and a Law Blog as an honorary "geek" and other legal industry periodicals. Emily’s hobbies include reading, cooking, and reading about cooking. Her spoiled dog (@winniecorgi) is the boss of her house.
Areas of Experience include: Research; Databases; Instruction; Competitive Intelligence (CI); AI; Business of Law; OSINT; Knowledge Management (KM); Technology; Strategy and Vision; Business Intelligence (BI); Market Intelligence (MI); Law Library; Legal Research; Business Development; CRM; Lexis InterAction; Salesforce; Einstein Analytics; Tableau; Westlaw; Lexis; Survey; Data Science; Statistical Analysis; Law Firms; Project Management (LPM); Process Improvement; Workflow Automation; Change Management
James Spence
James (Jim) Spence received a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Texas Tech University. He completed a Master’s degree in Information Science in 2011 from the University of North Texas (UNT) with a certification in Medical Informatics. He graduated from the UNT Interdisciplinary Information Science PhD program with concentrations in Information Theory and Design and Information Behavior in May of 2018.
In terms of work experience, Jim worked at the University of Texas, School of Dentistry in Houston for 8-years and served as the technical project leader for the institution’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) implementation. He came to University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center approximately 10 years ago. He currently serves as Manager of Quality Improvement and Analytics within the Division of Pharmacy.
The Pharmacy Analytics team at MD Anderson provides data and analytic services used to maintain and support medical research and the institution’s medication use process. Specifically, the team supports research protocols, medication formulary management, medication procurement, patient treatment regimens, medication-related Clinical Decision Support (CDS), coding, and billing. The Pharmacy Analytics team also serves as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for the Epic data repository known as Clarity particularly for the Pharmacy subject areas and data models. The team also serves as SMEs for the institution’s Federated Institutional Reporting Environment.
James (Jim) Spence received a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Texas Tech University. He completed a Master’s degree in Information Science in 2011 from the University of North Texas (UNT) with a certification in Medical Informatics. He graduated from the UNT Interdisciplinary Information Science PhD program with concentrations in Information Theory and Design and Information Behavior in May of 2018.
In terms of work experience, Jim worked at the University of Texas, School of Dentistry in Houston for 8-years and served as the technical project leader for the institution’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) implementation. He came to University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center approximately 10 years ago. He currently serves as Manager of Quality Improvement and Analytics within the Division of Pharmacy.
The Pharmacy Analytics team at MD Anderson provides data and analytic services used to maintain and support medical research and the institution’s medication use process. Specifically, the team supports research protocols, medication formulary management, medication procurement, patient treatment regimens, medication-related Clinical Decision Support (CDS), coding, and billing. The Pharmacy Analytics team also serves as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for the Epic data repository known as Clarity particularly for the Pharmacy subject areas and data models. The team also serves as SMEs for the institution’s Federated Institutional Reporting Environment.
Nigel Thurlow
Nigel Thurlow is an Organizational Theorist, International Keynote Speaker, Continuous Improvement Leader, Agile and Scrum Expert, and The Chief of Agile at Toyota Connected. He is an internationally recognized industry expert on Lean and Agile approaches and is leveraging the power of The Toyota Production System and The Toyota Way to enhance and develop Agility in Lean Product Development.
Nigel led the successful transformation at 3M Healthcare Information Systems, and was a principal trainer and coach at Scrum Inc together with the co-creator of Scrum. Nigel has taught and coached in notable companies such as GE, Bose, 3M, Microsoft, and MIT, and as of 2019 he has trained over 5000 people in Scrum and Agile techniques. He currently holds the Professional Scrum Trainer designation from Scrum.org, and is the first trainer to have ever been approved to teach Scrum by both the creators of Scrum.
He is the creator of Scrum The Toyota Way, an approach that blends the deep teachings of Toyota and the Toyota Production System with Complexity Theory, Human Factors, and the Scrum Framework, as well as being the founder of the Toyota Connected Agile Academy.
Nigel Thurlow is an Organizational Theorist, International Keynote Speaker, Continuous Improvement Leader, Agile and Scrum Expert, and The Chief of Agile at Toyota Connected. He is an internationally recognized industry expert on Lean and Agile approaches and is leveraging the power of The Toyota Production System and The Toyota Way to enhance and develop Agility in Lean Product Development.
Nigel led the successful transformation at 3M Healthcare Information Systems, and was a principal trainer and coach at Scrum Inc together with the co-creator of Scrum. Nigel has taught and coached in notable companies such as GE, Bose, 3M, Microsoft, and MIT, and as of 2019 he has trained over 5000 people in Scrum and Agile techniques. He currently holds the Professional Scrum Trainer designation from Scrum.org, and is the first trainer to have ever been approved to teach Scrum by both the creators of Scrum.
He is the creator of Scrum The Toyota Way, an approach that blends the deep teachings of Toyota and the Toyota Production System with Complexity Theory, Human Factors, and the Scrum Framework, as well as being the founder of the Toyota Connected Agile Academy.
Michele Whitehead
Michele Whitehead is the Department Head, Research & User Experience at the Gibson D. Lewis Health Science Library at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth and adjunct faculty member at Tarleton State University in the Department of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Strategic Studies. Previously, she served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Texas at Arlington. She earned a Master of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Master of Science in Library Science from the University of North Texas.
With almost a decade of experience as a medical librarian, Michele is active in the South Central Chapter of the Medical Library Association serving as Research Committee Chair and a past president of the organization. She is also an active member of the Medical Library Association. She served MLA on the 2015-2016 Bertolucci Annual Meeting Grant Jury and the 2017 National Programming Committee. Michele is also a past Chair of HealthLINE DFW and was selected as the Emerging Leader by NN/LM South Central Region/SCAMeL for 2014-2015.
Michele Whitehead is the Department Head, Research & User Experience at the Gibson D. Lewis Health Science Library at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth and adjunct faculty member at Tarleton State University in the Department of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Strategic Studies. Previously, she served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Texas at Arlington. She earned a Master of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Master of Science in Library Science from the University of North Texas.
With almost a decade of experience as a medical librarian, Michele is active in the South Central Chapter of the Medical Library Association serving as Research Committee Chair and a past president of the organization. She is also an active member of the Medical Library Association. She served MLA on the 2015-2016 Bertolucci Annual Meeting Grant Jury and the 2017 National Programming Committee. Michele is also a past Chair of HealthLINE DFW and was selected as the Emerging Leader by NN/LM South Central Region/SCAMeL for 2014-2015.