Executive Director for Center for Teaching and Learning
Daniel Sanford is a higher education administrator whose work bridges research on learning with practical strategies for evidence-based teaching, including emerging questions about teaching and learning in the age of artificial intelligence. He leads campus-wide faculty development efforts, curricular innovation, and student success initiatives grounded in the science of how people learn.
Dr. Sanford is the author of The Rowman & Littlefield Guide for Peer Tutors, a widely used training text for undergraduate tutors, and the co-author of The Rowman & Littlefield Guide to Learning Center Administration. He is also the lead editor of The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Peer Tutoring, a volume that brings together current empirical research on peer learning in higher education.
His work focuses on assignment design, teaching in the age of artificial intelligence, and the practical application of learning science, drawing on earlier scholarship in peer tutoring and academic support. He frequently gives invited talks and workshops for universities and professional organizations on assignment design in the AI era, teaching and learning with generative AI, and the role of peer tutoring in student learning, and he consults with institutions on faculty development, assessment design, and academic support programs.
Trained as a cognitive linguist, Dr. Sanford earned his Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico, where his research examined the role of metaphor in shaping human thought. He has published widely in this area and continues to draw on cognitive principles to inform teaching and learning across disciplines.
Dr. Sanford brings extensive experience in academic leadership, having previously served as Director of Writing and of the Academic Resource Commons at Bates College and as Director of the Center for Academic Program Support at the University of New Mexico. In these roles, he developed faculty development programs, writing initiatives, and peer-led learning models that support student learning across disciplines. He holds the Certified Learning Center Professional Lifetime Achievement Award from the International College Learning Center Association.