Ryan Goodwin

Dr. Ryan Goodwin is the Founding Director of the Center for Higher Education Innovation at the University of Central Florida. Ryan’s research and practice focuses on higher education innovations that improve postsecondary access, success, and completion for all. He is particularly interested in the educational systems and organizational structures that influence student movement to and through postsecondary education, with a particular emphasis on the success of low-income and underrepresented students.

A native Hoosier, Ryan earned a B.S. in Elementary Education from Indiana University Bloomington and began his career in elementary school classrooms. Ryan earned a master’s in higher education and student affairs at the University of South Carolina and was awarded the Erickson Research Fellowship to attend Michigan State University, where he completed a dual Ph.D. in educational policy and higher, adult, and lifelong education. Ryan served as UCF’s inaugural University Innovation Alliance Fellow and has found home in Orlando and at UCF.