Dr. Joann Halpern is an Adjunct Professor of International Education in the Department of Applied Statistics, Social Science, and Humanities at New York University. She serves on the External Advisory Board of the global consulting firm, Campana & Schott and is an experienced Design Thinking and Designing Your Life coach. Dr. Halpern recently became the Chief Innovation Officer and Head of Global Partnerships at ZAMWILL, an organization based in Zambia dedicated to empowering young women through education, technology, and sports.
Over the past seven years, Dr. Halpern has been the director of the Hasso Plattner Institute, New York (HPI), where she developed sustainable partnerships with leading universities, global corporations like Pfizer, and international organizations, including the United Nations. Prior to her work at HPI, Dr. Halpern was the founding director of the German Center for Research and Innovation in New York, a cornerstone of the German government’s initiative to advance the internationalization of science and research. In addition to teaching and administrative assignments at universities in the United States and Germany, Dr. Halpern co-founded Knowledge Transfer Beyond Boundaries, an NGO focused on education and leadership initiatives in countries, such as Cameroon, Nigeria, Yemen, and Antigua.
Dr. Halpern received her B.A. from Dartmouth College, her M.A. from Harvard University, and her Ph.D. from New York University. She is a recipient of the Harvard University Award for Distinction in Teaching as well as scholarships from the Fulbright Association, German Academic Exchange Service, Robert Bosch Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Dr. Halpern serves on the advisory boards of Ankh Impact Ventures, the German Center for Research and Innovation, Technical University of Dortmund, University Alliance Ruhr, and the External Advisory Board of the Tandon Institute for Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship.