Page 7 - CEHD Commencement Graduate Program

Biographical Information
Michael C. Rodriguez
Michael C. Rodriguez, PhD, is the dean of the College of Education and Human Development and the Campbell Leadership Chair in Education and Human Development and a professor of educational psychology. He is a fifth-generation Minnesotan and first-generation college graduate, who received his BA from
the Morris campus. His research focuses on understanding the psychometric properties of tests—for example, the use of constructed-response versus multiple-choice items. Michael works with school districts to develop methods
for improving their use of large-scale test information to improve practices and policies. In addition, he is dedicated to improving the accessibility of assessments of students with disabilities and multilingual learners. Michael leads the Minnesota Youth Development Research Group which helps school districts make use of the Minnesota Student Survey, reporting on positive youth development and social and emotional learning. Michael provides advisory support and leadership to several national organizations, including the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, National Assessment of Educational Progress, U.S. Department of Defense on military personnel testing, Association of American Medical Colleges, and National Council on Measurement in Education.
Ruth E. Johnson
Ruth Johnson is an internal medicine staff physician at the Mayo Clinic, practicing in the Executive Health Program. She was founding director of the Mayo Diagnostic Breast Clinic. She has spent 17 years on the Medical Scientist Training Program (MD-PhD) admissions committee, was associate director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program and chaired the bioethics course at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. Ruth received a bachelor of arts degree in chemistry and biology
from Augsburg University. She earned her MD from the Mayo Clinic Alix School
of Medicine and completed an internal medicine residency program at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. She is certified in bioethics from the Georgetown University Kennedy School of Ethics and in medical education from the Harvard- Macy Program for Physician Educators. She served for 16 years on the Board of Regents of Augsburg University, during which time she served on presidential
and academic dean search committees and was an integral part of two capital campaigns. She is also a Distinguished Alumna of Augsburg University.
John Leonard
John Leonard joined the University of Minnesota band faculty in the fall of 2021 after completing his DMA in wind conducting at the University of Kansas. In 2018 he was
the interim assistant director of bands, and director of the Bronco Marching Band at Western Michigan University. Previously, John was the assistant director of bands at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, and worked as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst teaching music arranging techniques as well as leading the UMass “Hoop” Band and assisting with the Minuteman Marching Band. A prolific arranger, John writes music for many university marching bands,
as well as working on new arrangements and transcriptions for wind band. In the summers, he teaches at the George N. Parks Drum Major Academy where he is both a lead clinician, as well as the staff manager for the company.
5