Nancy W. Gleason, PhD is the Director of the Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning and an Associate Professor of Practice in Political Science at New York University Abu Dhabi. Her research focuses on the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s impact on higher education, and the future of work.  She considers societal impacts of education, employment disruption, continuous reskilling, and the role of industry in supporting upskilling of adults. She is the editor of Higher Education in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Springer, 2018). She is the co-editor, Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education: Lessons from Across Asia (Palgrave March 2020). 

Nancy Gleason has taught over 15 different courses at liberal arts colleges on three contients in the past 15 years. Topics range from global governance, to international negotiations, to environmental politics, and globalization. As the importance of transformative education came into view amidst significant disruptions in society including climate change and the fourth industrial revolution, and eventually covid-19, the course material has shifted. Dr. Gleason currently offers two signature courses at NYU Abu Dhabi, Industrial Revolutions and the Future of Work, and The Future of Education. Here students examine the traditional roles of education in developing skills and knowledge in the face of societial norms. They use an interdisciplinary, and multicultural lens to explore emanicaptory learning; and to seek solutions to some of humanities biggest challenges.