National Speaker Event: Dr. Beronda Montgomery

Dr. Beronda Montgomery

Cultivating Classroom Engagement: Insights from Dr. Beronda Montgomery

Monday, February 23rd from 10:00-11:00 am in College Common (Humanities Building)

Co-hosted by Center for Teaching and Advising & the Office of a Pedagogy of Hope

Engaging students in meaningful learning experiences is essential for fostering curiosity, critical thinking, and academic success. In this interactive workshop, Dr. Beronda Montgomery will lead faculty in a reflective and practical conversation about classroom engagement. The session will focus on sharing and examining faculty expectations for student participation, exploring the assumptions that shape these expectations, and discussing strategies for creating inclusive and supportive environments that encourage active involvement.

Open to Gonzaga University Faculty.

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Intentional Mentorship: Nurturing Opportunity and Success

Monday, February 23rd from 1:30-2:30 pm in the Globe Room (Cataldo Hall)

Join us for a session focused on building meaningful mentoring relationships that foster growth and inclusion. We’ll explore how mentoring differs from advising, identify success measures that support individual development, and discuss strategies for promoting equitable opportunities. This event is open to anyone who sees themselves as a mentor.

Open to all.

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Have questions? Contact pedagogyofhope@gonzaga.edu.

Dr. Beronda Montgomery

Speaker Bio

Beronda L. Montgomery, PhD is writer, science communicator, and researcher. During 2025-2026, she is serving as the Sally Starling Seaver Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. Beronda has spent 20 years in academia, most recently as Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean (2022-2024) and Professor of Biology of Grinnell College (2022-present). Prior to that Dr. Montgomery was an endowed Professor of Biochemistry and senior administrator, including Assistant Provost of Faculty Development and Associate Vice President of Research and Innovation, at Michigan State University (2004-2022).

As a researcher, Dr. Montgomery studies how individuals perceive, respond to, and are impacted by environments in which they exist. Her laboratory-based research efforts are focused on the responses of photosynthetic organisms to external light and nutrient cues. Additionally, Dr. Montgomery pursues this theme in the context of effective mentoring and academic leadership. Dr. Montgomery is author of two books Lessons from Plants (Harvard University Press, 2021) and When Trees Testify (Henry Holt, 2026).