Associate Professor of Education
Erin Sanders O’Leary, Ph.D. serves as the inaugural vice provost for teaching and learning where she guides UCLA’s educational innovation efforts. In addition to overseeing the institution’s Teaching and Learning Center, she leads several campus wide initiatives including activities associated with the Dialogue across Difference teaching prong, serving as co-lead for Strategic Plan Goal 4, and chairing the Subcommittee on Academic and Learning Spaces seeking to modernize and transform UCLA classrooms.
Previously, Erin served as the executive director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). She also held an appointment as an associate professor of biological sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and an associate adjunct professor in microbiology and immunology in the College of Medicine.
Her appointment as vice provost for teaching and learning in 2023 marked her return to UCLA where she earned her Ph.D. in biological chemistry. In 2005, she started as a lecturer for large-enrollment undergraduate lecture and laboratory courses and served as faculty advisor for training teaching assistants in the department of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics; later she joined the department’s faculty as an associate adjunct professor. In 2014, Erin became the founding director of UCLA’s Center for Education Innovation and Learning in the Sciences (CEILS) and taught undergraduate and graduate courses in the Life Sciences Core Education program.
As an Associate Professor of Education in UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies, Erin is a published author and recognized research scholar in discipline-based education research. She’s been awarded millions of dollars in federal and foundation grants to advance areas of scholarship related to diverse learner experiences in the classroom and the efficacy of professional learning programs for instructors. Current research interests include studying the effects of technology-enhanced learning spaces and educational technology (e.g., AI) and gathering evidence to inform improvements not only to instruction but to systems, practice, and policy in teaching-related matters within the institution.
Erin earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry at DePaul University in Chicago, IL. She enjoys spending time with her family, which includes her joyful newborn, highly energetic toddler, musically talented husband, and cuddly fur babies; visiting family in the midwest; and cheering on the LA Rams.