Our core leadership team is dedicated to preparing leaders to transform school buildings and school districts. We have decades of experience cultivating extraordinary leaders and developing top-quality leadership training programs.
Noelle Arnold, Academic Director
Noelle Arnold, PhD is a professor of educational administration and the senior associate dean in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Arnold was the Director for the Education Doctorate (EdD) program in Educational Administration in the Department of Educational Studies at Ohio State. Dr. Arnold has written and presented extensively and has 9 books published or in press and more than 70 publications.
Her most recent book is the 2nd Edition of the Handbook for Urban Educational Leadership and Companion Guide (forthcoming, 2021). A former administrator at the district and state level, Dr. Arnold also serves as a consultant throughout the US advising districts on diversity and inclusion, and teaching and leading in urban and rural contexts. Dr. Arnold’s research agenda terms context-based interdisciplinary research with a focus on disparities and her research has yielded $2.3 million in internal and external funding.
In addition, Dr. Arnold’s scholarship was one of only four authors’ works submitted to the United States Senate for Emerging Peer Reviewed Research on Educational Leadership, Policy and Literacy in Black and Brown Communities. Dr. Arnold was the first Black female to serve as President for the University Council for Educational.
Ben Campbell, Academic Director
Benjamin Campbell is an Associate Professor of Management at the Max M. Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University. He has a BS in Mathematics from The Ohio State University and a PhD in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley. His research focuses on how people can create the most value within organizations and has appeared in outlets including Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, Management Science, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Industrial Relations, and Industrial and Labor Relations Review.
He has been named the “Executive MBA Outstanding Professor” in 2021, the “BRIGHT MBA Outstanding Professor” in 2018, the “Outstanding Full-Time MBA Core Professor” in 2010, 2012, and 2013, and the “Outstanding Working Professional MBA Core Professor” in 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2018. He was the recipient of the 2011 Pace Setters Westerbeck Graduate Teaching Award and was nominated for the 2013 Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching. Benjamin believes that management and leadership skills allow organizations to maximize their potential and he is deeply passionate about teaching business skills to those who are directly making our world a better place.
John Rensink, Senior Director
John Rensink has worked in higher education for nearly 2 decades building a career around preparing exceptional leaders and developing and guiding exceptional educational programs. Before his appointment to BRIGHT, he led Fisher’s 9th ranked Executive MBA program and several custom executive leadership programs for Fortune 100 companies.
John has a Doctorate in Management from Case Western University, a Master’s in Higher Education Leadership from the University of South Carolina, and a BA in the humanities from The Ohio State University
John has a profoundly curious and thoughtful nature, an instinct to lead and inspire others and a constant drive to seek improvement in himself and the world around him. He is a proud father and husband.
Laurel Clarkson, Program Coordinator
Laurel Clarkson serves as the Program Coordinator for the BRIGHT Initiative. Laurel’s educational background includes a M.S. in Education, K-12 School Counseling from the University of Akron, as well as a B.S. in Allied Health Professions from The Ohio State University. Laurel also worked several years at OSU in undergraduate advising for the College of Education & Human Ecology before joining the BRIGHT team.
Christine Fagan, Special Projects Manager
Christine Fagan, EdD serves as the Special Projects Manager for the EDGE office. She manages and oversees the BRIGHT program in coordination with the Fisher College of Business, the Urban and Rural Initiative, the Be The Change Module, and various other projects within the College of Education and Human Ecology. Christine spent several years as a middle school educator and her research interest revolves around Trauma-Informed Practices in school settings. She holds an EdD in Educational Administration from The Ohio State University, a MS in Curriculum and Instruction and BS in Middle Childhood Education both from Youngstown State University.
