Pioneer Academics 3rd Annual Co-Curricular Summit

Esteemed Speakers

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  Brian Cooper

  Director of Academic R&D Pioneer Academics

  Brian Cooper, Director of Research & Development at Pioneer Academics, has extensive experience in gifted education. He spent 25 years at Duke University’s Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP), creating programs for talented students worldwide. He’s also an award-winning AP English teacher with a focus on engaging students in meaningful learning experiences. Cooper holds degrees in English and Secondary English Education and enjoys reading, theology, and disc golf in his spare time.

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  Melissa Rodriguez

  Admissions Counselor California Institute of Technology

  Melissa is an Undergraduate Admissions Counselor at Caltech. As a first-generation graduate, she is passionate about mentorship in higher education. In her current role, Melissa primarily oversees access recruitment for Caltech’s office, namely in rural recruitment. She is happy to be here today to talk about the ever-changing college application process.

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  Matthew Jaskol

  Founder & Director, Pioneer Academics

  Matthew Jaskol founded Pioneer Academics in 2012 with the intent of offering deep intellectual exploration to outstanding young people of geographic and cultural diversity. He is a strong proponent of Pioneer’s social mission to offer need and cause-based scholarships; the company has therefore developed numerous partnerships with leading non-profit organizations.

  Graduating with a BA from Skidmore College, Matthew’s early professional roles were in business advisory and technology consulting services. Matthew was a consultant at Accenture in the US and at Deloitte Consulting in China. For the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) corporate networks in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, he developed research and briefings for executives of multinationals. He has also been a correspondent for the EIU’s Business China publication.

  Since completing his MBA at the Yale School of Management in 2008, Matthew has been a successful entrepreneur and early-stage company executive. A previous internet venture earned the 2010 Red Herring Asia Top 100 and Global Top 100 awards.

  With his wife, Amy Li, Pioneer’s Founding Director of Outreach and Communications, he enjoys caring for their little daughter and encouraging her to explore the world.

  Matthew believes that passionate young scholars, if properly guided, can reach remarkable heights through their intellect, imagination, and determination. Dedicated to that belief, he drives Pioneer to create opportunities for such students. He trusts that pivotal academic experiences will empower them to create the world they envision.

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  Megan Cannella

  Director of Outreach Davidson Institute

  Megan Cannella is the Director of Outreach at the Davidson Institute, where she has worked since 2019. Before that, she taught college-level humanities courses for almost a decade. Megan’s outreach role focuses on advocacy and equity for neurodivergent learners. Contact with Megan at mcannella@davidsongifted.org.

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  David Gatchell, Ph.D.

  Clinical Professor and Director the Manufacturing and Design Engineering (MaDE) Program, Northwestern University

  David is the current director of the Manufacturing and Design Engineering (MaDE) program, the undergraduate degree-granting program within Northwestern University’s Segal Design Institute. In addition to his leadership role within Segal, David holds the position of Clinical Professor in the McCormick School’s BME and ME departments. In 2020, he was awarded the Meshii Award in Design Education, and in 2016, he received the Charles Deering McCormick Distinguished Clinical Professor award.

  At NU, David co-instructs the capstone sequences in the MaDE and Mechanical Engineering programs. Prior to 2019, he also co-instructed the capstone sequence in Biomedical Engineering. In addition, his DSGN 308 – Human-Centered Product Design course has been chosen as “one of five undergraduate courses to take NU” by the Daily Northwestern. In 2018, David co-developed, with Matthew Cummins, the Leonardo, Geometry, and the Art of Manufacturing course, which culminates in a public iron pour. He co-directs the Segal Summer Internship Program with Professor Dan Brown and maintains research collaborations with members of the Feinberg School of Medicine.

  Before joining the NU faculty in 2011, David was a member of the BME faculty at IIT and the lead instructor of IIT’s IPRO program. He has an AB in physics from Bowdoin College and a PhD in BME from Boston University. His wife, Terry, is a graduate of NU’s Environmental Engineering Department. Together, David and Terry have two children, Will, 19, and Nina, 15.

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  Gregory Dresden

  Professor of Mathematics Washington and Lee University

  Professor Greg Dresden has been teaching mathematics at almost every level for almost 40 years, to students in person in California, Texas, Wisconsin, and Virginia, and to students virtually from around the world. He has published dozens of articles and problems, many of them with student co-authors, in journals such as the Fibonacci Quarterly and Mathematics Magazine. Over the years, he has chaired a department, taught in a high school, taught future high-school teachers, graded AP exams, edited textbooks, and helped organize conferences. Currently he lives and works in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

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  Aaron Zdawczyk

  Senior Associate Director & Director of Recruitment Strategy and Initiatives Northwestern University

  Aaron has been part of the Northwestern community since 2003 and is currently responsible for directing all recruitment and admitted student initiatives for undergraduate students at Northwestern. Prior to his current role, he spent much of this time at the University working to grow and diversify the undergraduate international population. Aaron received his bachelor’s degree from the College of the Holy Cross and his M.A. in Higher Education Administration from Boston College. He also completed a Princeton-in-Asia fellowship in Wuhan, China.

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  Mike Steidel

  Dean of Admission – Emeritus Carnegie Mellon University

  Mike graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a B.S. degree in Chemistry and Administration and Management Science. He is a ‘life-er’ at Carnegie Mellon, having begun his admission career as a tour guide here in 1974 and became Carnegie Mellon’s youngest Director of Admission at age 29 in 1986 and Dean of Admission in 2016. Mike retired from Carnegie Mellon in June, 2023 after serving for 45 years in college admission at the university. In addition to his role in undergraduate admission, Mike led the Enrollment Strategy Group at Carnegie Mellon and the First Year Financial Aid Operations Group. He also partnered with the Office of Admission for Carnegie Mellon’s Education City campus in Doha, Qatar. Mike is a co-organizer of the annual Fitzwilliam Conference on College Admission for secondary school and college admission professionals and Fitzwilliam Experience for Emerging Leaders Conference. Mike has served as president of the Pennsylvania Association for College Admission Counseling (PACAC) after having served as PACAC membership chair for 4 years and chair of the Conference Planning Committee. He has also served on the faculty of the PACAC’s Bucknell Summer Institute for new admission and secondary school staff. He’s served on the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) Committee for Europe, Middle East, and Africa and he chaired the ECIS Americas Committee. He has also served two 3-year terms as a member at large of Educational Testing Service’s (ETS), Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) Board of Directors. Mike has also served a four-year term as a board member for The Common Application, chairing the board for one year. He has served as a reader for the ETS College Scholarship Service Sponsored Scholarship Program. Mike has also served as co-chair of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) National Task Force on Technology in Admission and Counseling for 3 years. He is a frequent presenter at PACAC, NACAC, College Board, ECIS, CIS and CASE Conferences. He’s also been a frequent panelist for secondary school college night and parent programs on college admission. He has also served as a consultant for college and university admission operations and is also a regular international traveler.

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  Adam Song

  Pioneer Alumnus Imperial College London

  My name is Adam Song and I am currently an information session presenter at Pioneer Academics. I was a Pioneer scholar in 2019, have participated in alumni panels since 2021, and has been a PCA for three years. I recently finished my Masters of Engineering at Imperial College London.

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  Ryan Dwyer

  Pioneer Alumnus Cornell University

  Ryan is a junior at Cornell University, doubling majoring in Classics and Linguistics. He is an alumnus of the Pioneer Research Institute, completing the program during the Spring and Summer of 2020 under the concentration “In Sickness and in Health: Topics in the Sociology and History of Public Health.” He is a Cohort Advisor Coach for Pioneer and serves on the Pioneer Alumni Advisory Board.

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  Sandy Sook

  Odyssey of the Mind

  Dr. Sook received her Ph. D. in Rhetoric from Texas Woman’s University. She has been active in Odyssey of the Mind for over 40 years. She really enjoys helping young people learn that “creativity can be taught.” She is currently teaching at TWU but has taught high school for several years. She coached Odyssey teams at all levels and is currently working with both the state and international boards to assist administrators, teachers, parents, and students learn about the benefits of the program.