A. Joseph Tamer
DESIRED ATTRIBUTES
Committed to Adolescents
Adolescents have been at the center of my work throughout my career. I spent more than a decade in youth ministry, as well as serving as an independent-school teacher, advisor, coach, and administrator. Even after moving to ASU, much of my work remained focused on adolescents: NASA Infiniscope was designed for learners from middle school through introductory college, keeping me connected to the needs, interests, and development of students ages 12–19 years old.
Comfortable with Ambiguity
I am energized by opportunities where the path forward has not yet been defined. At the NASA Academy, we created and documented an innovative residential research curriculum as we delivered it. At ETX, I have worked at the forefront of learning science and educational technology, where new ideas rarely arrive with established playbooks. I enjoy bringing process, structure, and evidence to promising innovations so they can mature and scale.
Supportive of Diverse Spiritual Life
Spiritual exploration has been part of both my education and work with adolescents. I minored in Religious Studies, taught World Religions at Marianapolis, and created a non-denominational youth ministry program at Emma Willard where students could explore their own understanding of spirituality. More recently, I have helped host Iftar gatherings at Fay School, supporting Muslim students while learning alongside a community representing varied faith traditions.
Connected to the Classroom
I have intentionally remained connected to teaching even as my administrative responsibilities grew. As Dean of Students and Residential Life Director at both Marianapolis and Rancho Solano, I continued teaching at least one course. Later, while working at ASU, NASA Infiniscope brought me into classrooms nationwide, where I worked directly with hundreds of teachers and students to field-test, evaluate, and improve the learning experiences our team created.
Enthusiasm for Residential Life
Residential education is not simply part of my professional history; it remains part of our family's life and future. I have served as Director of Residential Life at two schools, and today my wife and I live on the Fay School campus, where she is a faculty member. We value the relationships, shared responsibilities, and sense of community distinctive to boarding schools, and hope to spend the remainder of our careers living and contributing within a residential-school community.
Thought Partnership
For more than a decade, I have served as a trusted thought partner to Ariel Anbar as ETX grew from an ambitious idea into a nationally recognized learning-design organization. Ariel often brought the academic vision; my role was to help translate that vision into programs, teams, budgets, partnerships, and systems that could be implemented, evaluated, and scaled. Together, we built a multidisciplinary team capable of turning innovative ideas into sustainable educational programs.