Leadership

Jill Griffin joined the Center for Innovation and Change as the director of the ChangeLab Program in August 2012. She brings practical experience as a management consultant at Deloitte Consulting as well as experience in brand management and business development at Dell Computer Corporation. Griffin’s academic training includes a PhD in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin, an MBA and MS in Industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan, a MA in economics from Indiana University, and a BA in mathematics and Russian from Trinity University. She has spent more than seven years living and working abroad in such countries as Germany, Austria, Russia, and Bulgaria. Her research on consumer behavior is published in the Journal of Marketing Research and the Journal of Consumer Psychology. In addition to directing ChangeLab and coaching students on projects with industry partners, Griffin has taught courses in brand management, consumer behavior, marketing strategy, marketing research, microeconomics and macroeconomics. She is passionate about providing transformative educational experiences to students.

Erin Lewis joined the Center for Innovation and Change as its associate director in June 2015. Prior to joining the Center, she served as former United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s Director of Outreach at iCivics, directing its national field networks, communications and partnerships. She also served as a Research Assistant at the Indiana University Public Policy Institute, Indiana's Director of Civic Education for six years, and is a former United States Marine, having completed Officer Candidate School in Quantico. While obtaining her Masters of Public Affairs in Policy Analysis with Honors, she helped create the Center for Civic Literacy, the nation's first interdisciplinary center devoted exclusively to researching civics content knowledge, and completed IU’s rigorous Oxford University summer program in England. In 2013, she was one of only three SPEA graduate students to receive the William M. Plater Civic Engagement Medallion for service to the community while at IUPUI. She is passionate about providing transformative experiences to students, and hopes to give the ChangeLab experience to as many students as possible. She is coming home, as she received her B.S. in Political Science and Psychology from the University of Evansville.

Geoff Edwards serves at the Associate Dean of Student Engagement and Innovation. He has been at the University of Evansville since 2010. Geoff earned his BA from Monmouth College in Illinois in Communication/Theatre Arts and Public Relations. He earned his MA in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University. In 2018, Edwards completed his doctorate Higher Education and Organizational Change from Benedictine University in Lisle, IL. His dissertation entitled, The Socially Responsible Activities of Private Colleges and Universities: Lessons in Recruiting an Incoming Class, focuses on how changemaking and social responsibility resonates with Generation Z college students and offers suggestions for how to engage the generation when recruiting new students.
In his role, Geoff coordinates and oversees student organizations, community service initiatives, leadership programs, Greek Life, Student Government Association, and community engagement. He also serves as one of the UE’s Campus Change Leaders.

Publications – Honors – Presentations
As research director of the Center for Innovation and Change in Indiana, Dr. Walayet A. Khan works to increase awareness and research of internationally related topics across the University of Evansville campus. Dr. Khan joined the University of Evansville in 1989 as assistant professor of finance. Since joining the University, Dr. Khan has been active and consistent in research endeavors with a strong involvement in the international area. He has published papers coauthored with colleagues globally from countries such as Australia, Singapore, Portugal, and Taiwan. Dr. Khan has served as a consultant to various national organizations, including the Philadelphia Stock exchange (the largest foreign currency options market), the Chicago Stock Exchange, and Kaplin Schwezer. Dr. Khan holds a PhD in finance and an MBA from the University of Arkansas. Dr. Khan has taught courses in finance, economics, and statistics including financial management, corporate financial policy, international finance, investments, derivative securities, financial markets & institutions, risk management, money and banking, business statistics, financial planning, international economics, macroeconomics, and global capital markets.

Cindy graduated from Indiana State University of Evansville in 1982 with a B.S. in psychology and marketing. She came to the University of Evansville in 2007 after 19 years at St. Vincent’s Evansville. Cindy enjoyed working at UE’s multi-faceted Institute for Global Enterprise for 10 years and was pleased to transition into the Center for Innovation and Change in 2018. She is most excited to work at the epicenter of the ChangeLab Program where students are taught the skills of critical thinking and problem solving while consulting with civic, profit, and non-profit organizations. Cindy is a member of the Change Team and assisted in UE being named as the first Ashoka Changemaker Campus in Indiana. She volunteers with the Southern Indiana Regional Coalition Against Trafficking (SIRCAT) and is looking for ways the university can partner with them to fight human trafficking in our region.