Doug Lynch

Doug Lynch has built his career at the intersection of learning innovation, access, and impact—working across K–12, higher education, government, and corporate learning to scale what works. Before joining the faculty at USC Rossier, Doug served as Vice Dean at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also held roles as Academic Director for Wharton Executive Education and Senior Advisor to the Fels Institute of Government. Earlier, he was an Assistant Dean at New York University, and prior to that worked at both the College Board and Arizona State University—building a career that consistently bridged innovation, policy, and large-scale implementation. Doug’s track record in education innovation stretches back to the early charter movement, when he helped launch the Genesis Academy at ASU—one of the first charter schools in the country. At NYU, he became an early leader in adult, continuing, and online education and was invited to testify before the U.S. Congress on innovation in higher education. In 2002, his work in exporting U.S. education programs globally earned the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Presidential “E” Award for Innovation—the first time a college received this national recognition. At Penn, Doug launched multiple new ventures, including the nation’s first joint doctoral program in work-based learning with Wharton, executive master’s programs for Teach For America corps members and boarding school educators, a master’s in medical education, an education business plan competition, and an educational film production company. Across these initiatives, his focus remained on building durable bridges between research, practice, and market adoption. In parallel, Doug has led large-scale corporate learning efforts—founding NYU’s Corporate Learning Services, designing turnaround training for WorldCom following bankruptcy, supporting FDNY after 9/11, chairing the American Society for Training & Development’s Public Policy Committee, and leading the U.S. delegation to the International Standards Organization for global non-formal learning standards. He also served on the Board of Visitors to the CIA’s Corporate University. At USC Doug teaches doctoral student and create the USC Ed Tech Accelerator which has raised over $130 million and serves over 24 million students.