Chris Mullin

Strategy Director

Christopher (Chris) Mullin, Ph.D., is strategy director of data and measurement for Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all.

Previously, he served as director of Strong Start to Finish at Education Commission of the States, executive vice chancellor of the Florida College System, the assistant vice chancellor for policy and research at the State University System of Florida, Board of Governors, the program director for policy analysis of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), and a postdoctoral fellow at the Illinois Education Research Council. Over the years he has also attended many Lumina convenings, both as a presenter and a participant.

He earned his bachelor’s and doctoral degree from the University of Florida and a master of education degree from Teachers College of Columbia University.

What does the future of learning look like? Faculty and students weigh in on new tech tools.

My whole life I’ve been curious about exoskeletons. As a child, I dreamed about building one for humans. Well, while Sarcos beat me to the punch with its wearable robotics, it hasn’t quashed my fascination with how humans and technology form a symbiotic relationship.

• Aug. 21, 2023

It’s time to align college and training data to help all learners

Built along interstates to increase access, nestled within office buildings for convenience or in a field to connect with nature’s laboratory, it’s all too easy to pass by classrooms for the mechanical and agricultural arts without realizing the opportunities they offer.

• July 24, 2023

How federal workforce programs can leave some students without credentials

Federal law merely suggests that training providers confer a credential, but they are not required to do so, denying some participants an economic edge.

• July 10, 2023

Time to weigh in: IPEDS could restrict the race and ethnicity reporting of undocumented students

Freedom gives us, as Americans, the power to choose. It makes our form of government unique in several practical ways. One is the opportunity to create and own our own identity, a practice praised by rugged individualists and inclusivity activists alike.

• April 21, 2022

The question we should be asking: “What don’t you want to major in?”

Efforts to help high school students choose a college major actually make things worse for most students—especially the most valuable among them. It all starts with the probing, anxiety-inducing question, “What are you going to major in?” Most students just defer to a major they have heard of as they don’t know what they want to major in.

• March 1, 2022

Jobs: After grieving lost family, my mom found her calling—as a funeral service worker

Empty chairs at the dining-room table this time of year remind us of loved ones no longer here. Like yours, perhaps, my family has had some experience with that loss. But in my mother’s case the grieving also led to a new career, and I sometimes think about what that might mean for others considering their job choices for the new year.

• Dec. 16, 2021