William Alba

As an educational leader, I built and directed programs to support the academic, metacurricular, and residential lives of college and high-school students; developed courses across diverse disciplines; and created projects that span the humanities, engineering, science, and design.

For seventeen years I directed the Science and Humanities Scholars Program and the Pre-College Summer Session at Carnegie Mellon University. I was also Assistant Dean for Diversity in the Mellon College of Science, Associate Teaching Professor of Chemistry, and Chapter President of Phi Beta Kappa. I serve on advisory councils for METI and the Arch Mission Foundation, and previously advised the Society for Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology (SSoCIA).

Earlier, I was the Associate Dean of Studies for Bard High School Early College; Tutor [Professor] on the Santa Fe campus of St. John’s College, where I founded the Monte Sol Workshop; Assistant Professor of Liberal Arts and Coordinator of Mathematics and Science at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Faculty Associate with the Bard Institute for Writing and Thinking; Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Bard College; and Instructor of Chemistry and Physics, Search & Rescue Leader, and House Counselor at Phillips Academy (Andover).

A lifelong learner, I was born in the Bronx, grew up in small-town Ohio, and studied at Cornell University and the University of California, Berkeley. When not traveling, I enjoy Nevada and Pennsylvania with family.