Laura Murray

Background

About Laura Murray

I currently direct the Center for the Integration of Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship (CITLS) at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. Our mission is to promote teaching excellence by partnering with faculty to provide robust pedagogical services and resources. We see authentic collaboration among faculty, staff, and students as key to our success. I am also the Co-founder of an educational development consultancy firm, GradTLC, launched in 2024 with my friend and former Princeton colleague, Dr. Kate Thorpe. In that venture, we partner with universities to offer coaching, consulting, and online blended courses to foster community, flourishing, and scholarly success for graduate students and the faculty and administrators who teach and mentor them. GradTLC is a direct result of my work as Assistant Director at Princeton University's McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning from 2018 through 2024, and the programs that I developed and led there to support all of Princeton's graduate students to learn and thrive. Prior to joining Princeton, I was an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, where I taught adolescent and emerging adult development courses to students becoming secondary school teachers and school and mental health counselors. Since then, my scholarly and applied work has explored the potential of colleges and universities to promote student belonging, engagement, learning, and thriving. I am particularly interested in inclusive pedagogy; mentorship; well-being within university contexts for all stakeholders; and transitions to and through higher education for under-represented and minority students, as well as for students with dis/abilities and/or who identify as neurodivergent. I hold a B.A. from Vassar College, an M.A. in Communication from Stanford University, and an M.S Ed. and Ph.D. in Human Development and Education from the University of Pennsylvania. I have taught undergraduate and graduate students at Stanford University, Mount Saint Mary's College (now University) in Los Angeles, the University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton University. Prior to returning to pursue my doctorate, I worked for over a decade as a documentary film and television producer, with multiple award-winning films focusing on youth and young adult mental health.