January 2022

AERA has brought on two experienced association leaders to join AERA’s senior professional team. In January, Sean Twombly and Paula Skedsvold joined AERA as Director of Membership, Outreach, and Engagement and 2022 Visiting Scholar, respectively. Their breadth of knowledge and experience will prove valuable to advancing AERA’s mission and goals.

Twombly comes to AERA from the Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honor Society, where he served as national director since 2012. Previously, he worked at the American Political Science Association in several capacities over nearly two decades—beginning as a program assistant in publications and development and ending as the director of membership services and development. He graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University with a B.A. in international relations.

Skedsvold joins the AERA–Council of Graduate Schools project team on a part-time basis to collaborate on the initiative “Examining Impact and Fostering Academic Support for Open Science Products.” She served for more than 10 years as the executive director of the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences, before leaving the organization in 2018. Earlier in her career, she served as director of research policy for AERA and worked on a National Institutes of Health initiative devoted to human research protection issues. She has a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of South Carolina and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

“We are pleased to welcome these two highly accomplished professionals to the AERA team,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “Their expertise and deep knowledge will contribute substantially to the association’s efforts to serve its membership and advance the scholarly enterprise.”