C. Edward Watson, Ph.D., is the Vice President for Digital Innovation at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). He is also the founding director of AAC&U’s
Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum. Prior to joining AAC&U, Dr. Watson was the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Georgia (UGA). He continues to serve as a Fellow in the Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education at UGA and recently stepped down after more than a decade as the Executive Editor of the
International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. His most recent publications are the second edition of
Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2025),
Leading Through Disruption: Higher Education Executives Assess AI’s Impacts on Teaching and Learning (AAC&U, 2025), and the
Student Guide to AI (Elon University & AAC&U, 2025). Dr. Watson been quoted in the
New York Times,
Chronicle of Higher Education,
Inside Higher Ed, Campus Technology,
EdSurge,
Newsweek, U.S. News,
EdTech,
Consumer Reports, UK Financial Times, and
University Business Magazine and by the AP, CNN and NPR regarding current teaching and learning issues and trends in higher education. Described as a digital learning pioneer, Dr. Watson was recognized by EdTech Magazine as one of the top 25 higher education influencers to follow in 2026.