Lisa Dieker

Dr. Lisa Dieker is the Williamson Family Distinguished Professor in special education in the School of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Kansas. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastern Illinois University and her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. Her research focuses on harnessing the power of teachers working across disciplines in inclusive settings with specific interests in STEM content areas and harnessing the impact of technology on teacher performance and student learning.

Prior to KU, she started as a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) where she co-directed the UWM/Milwaukee Public Schools Special Education Internship Program increasing the number and diversity of teachers in special education. She also co-taught college courses in special education and STEM with the mathematics and science department chairs.

At the University of Central Florida (UCF) she was a Pegasus Professor and Lockheed Martin Eminent Scholar in the College of Community Innovation and Education. She served as the director of the Lockheed Martin Mathematics and Science Academy, program coordinator for the Ph.D. program in special education, and co-directed the UCF Center for Research in Education Simulation Technology (CREST). As director of the UCF/Lockheed Martin Mathematics and Science Academy she worked collaboratively with STEM faculty members to direct two programs, the K-8 teacher leadership program as well as a Transition to Mathematics and Science Teaching (TMAST) program, both focusing on teacher preparation. She has advised over 100 doctoral students including 22 students with disclosed disabilities and 34 scholars from culturally diverse backgrounds. In her role as Co-Director of the UCF Center for Research in Education Simulation Technology (CREST), she along with two colleagues created the first simulator for teacher preparation called, TeachLivE, now commercialized by Mursion.

Currently, at KU she is leading a new Center in the Achievement and Assessment Institute focused on simulation and innovations in technology, including her current funded projects in developing artificial intelligence agents to support students with disabilities in inclusive settings and creating observational tagging tools and harvesting resources for coaches and special education teachers in STEM instruction. During her tenure as a faculty member, Dr. Dieker has managed over 60 grants from state, local, national, international, and foundation sources amounting to more than $22M; provided over 100 keynote addresses at local, state, national, and international levels and provided service at all levels including 3 journal editorships. She has produced five books, 80 articles and chapters, and holds six patents in simulation and education.