Victoria DeFrancesco Soto is Dean of the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas and is also a political analyst for NBC News and Telemundo. She is the first Latina Dean at a presidential institution and was named one of the top 12 scholars in the country by Diverse magazine. Victoria previously taught at Northwestern University and Rutgers and received her Ph.D. in political science from Duke University. Her areas of expertise include civic engagement, women, immigration, Latinos and political psychology. Underlying all of her research interests is the applicability of high-quality, rigorous research to on-the-ground policy realities. She is a former graduate of the University of Arizona Honors College and is proud to call Southern Arizona home. 

In today’s episode Victoria breaks down public service and what it looks like across disciplines, the power of frustration in enacting change and helping her advance to where she is today, her parallel career in public service and political analysis in the media, how her lived experience informs her nuanced approach to analysis in issues such as border policy, and more. 

Bem Le Hunte is an internationally published novelist and an expert in the field of Creative Intelligence. She is the Director of Learning and Teaching in the TD School at UTS, as well as the founding course director of the multi-award-winning Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation (BCII). She teaches creative thinking, theory and practice across many disciplines from anthropology to media and creative writing – and works with academics from across all faculties at UTS as well as with an industry partnership base of over 2,000 individuals, to create and support this world-first, multi-award-winning future-facing transdisciplinary degree. 

In today’s episode, we discuss the power of thinking creatively across disciplines, Bem’s origin story with the creation of the BCII at the University of Technology Sydney, her process of bringing this extraordinary dual degree to the W.A. Franke Honors College, and how this cutting-edge program will impact future generations of Franke Honors Wildcats. 

Rebecca Gomez, PhD, is a Professor in the College of Science and the Director of the Child Cognition Lab at the University of Arizona and is one of our incredible 2023 Franke Academy of Scholars award recipients. Dr. Gómez was also the recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award, has been an associate editor for Cognition, a leading journal in the field of cognitive science, and has served on the editorial boards of Psychological Science and Language Learning and Development. In this episode, we discuss how Rebecca became interested in developmental psychology, her current research with child cognition, and the importance of sleep as a guiding principle in her classroom. 

Dr. Gomez conducts studies with learners of different ages to better understand how memory processes are supported by the brain and how they change with development. If you are interested in learning more or you would like to participate in a study, visit https://www.childcognitionlab.arizona.edu

Teresa Rosano is a practicing architect and professor in the College of Architecture, Planning, & Landscape Architecture (CAPLA) at the University of Arizona. Teresa’s award-winning work has been featured in over 300 books and magazines worldwide, including Architecture Magazine. In addition to her celebrated architectural work, Teresa has been recognized for her excellence in teaching. Most recently, she received the 2023 Margaret M. Briehl and Dennis T. Ray Five Star Faculty Award, the only student-selected faculty award at the University of Arizona. In this episode, Interim Dean John Pollard has a conversation with Teresa about her design approach, the creative process, her values as an architect & instructor, and the importance of connection to people & place—from her roots in the Sonoran Desert all the way to her recent venture with Mindvalley.  

Dave Franke is the Principal of Franke & Co., and, along with the rest of the Franke family, is known for philanthropy, including the impactful gift that made us the W.A. Franke Honors College. With his experience creating and evolving businesses and philanthropic pursuits, Dave is no stranger to change. In this episode, Franke Honors Interim Dean John Pollard has a conversation with Dave about change in its many forms, from leadership transitions and human relationships to higher education and artificial intelligence.