Alyssa Martina named Stanford d.school Faculty Innovation Fellow

The director of the Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship successfully completed the two-year program managed by the University Innovation Fellows program at Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.

Alyssa Martina, director of the Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, has been named a Faculty Innovation Fellow after completing a two-year-long community of design thinking practice, research and programming with faculty and administrators from around the world.

Alyssa Martina
Alyssa Martina, director of the Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Martina is part of the first cohort to complete the Faculty Innovation Fellows program, which is run by the University Innovation Fellows program at Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school).

Faculty Innovation Fellows work to design unique projects that enhance the innovation ecosystems at their schools. They also mentor the students taking part in the University Innovation Fellows program.

“These new Faculty Innovation Fellows have worked together for the last two years in a close-knit community to develop new ways to engage their students,” said Humera Fasihuddin, co-director of the University Innovation Fellows program. “Our team is so thrilled to see their efforts realized, and we can’t wait to see what they accomplish in the future.”

Since the program launched in September 2020, the cohort of 16 educators from 14 higher education institutions has met to share opportunities for change as well as ideas for high-impact student projects. These projects included funding programs, new majors, new classes, and activities to connect the campus and the community.

“My focus was on cultivating an ecosystem that supports creative entrepreneurs at Elon,” Martina shared. “This unique program that catalyzes entrepreneurs engaged in creative enterprises has not only gained traction on our campus but also interest from many other universities as a result of the work that we are doing here at Elon.”

“Our Faculty Innovation Fellows have the spark, the tinder and the kindling needed to ignite the fire of innovation and entrepreneurship at their institutions,” said Miriam Iliohan, co-founder and manager of DesignLab at the University of Twente. “This program gives them different types of wood to keep the fire going strong, to create different types of flames with changing colors, and to make sure the fire has enough ventilation to keep it burning. I am so very proud of this first cohort who has co-created this community of practice that will forever make an impact on our higher education together!”

As a celebration of the program’s completion, the Faculty Innovation Fellows delivered talks on their projects at Stanford’s d.school during the UIF program’s 2022 Silicon Valley Meetup in March. This event gathered 400 student and faculty Fellows, as well as institution leaders, from schools around the world for several days of sessions, talks and activities.

“I’m honored to have been selected for the inaugural cohort of this Stanford d.school initiative,” Martina said. “It was a privilege to work with faculty from around the world to design and develop meaningful programming to enhance our campus.”