Dr. John David Yi

John David Yi, Ph.D., is a first-generation Korean American educator, scholar, and higher education leader whose work is rooted in a deep commitment to access, belonging, and student success. As Director of Teaching and Learning at Montclair State University’s Center for Teaching and Academic Innovation, he works alongside faculty and campus partners to cultivate learning environments that are inclusive, thoughtful, and responsive to the evolving needs of today’s students.His journey in higher education has been shaped by persistence, reflection, and a steady willingness to move beyond perceived limits. As the first in his family to pursue a doctorate, he earned his Ph.D. in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. That path was not linear. It required navigating uncertainty, holding onto purpose, and continually reimagining what was possible, not only for himself, but for the students he serves.Before joining Montclair, Dr. Yi spent over fifteen years at the City University of New York, one of the most diverse public higher education systems in the nation, where he devoted his work to advancing inclusive pedagogy, faculty development, and institutional change. As Director of the Accelerated Learning Program at Queensborough Community College, he mentored both full-time and adjunct faculty through practicums, classroom observations, and one-on-one support, helping them design learning experiences that were rigorous, responsive, and grounded in care. His leadership in implementing equity-centered teaching practices and supporting faculty development contributed to measurable gains in student engagement and a fifteen percent increase in retention.He also led The Common Read Program, a large-scale, high-impact initiative that engaged more than 1,200 students and faculty in shared intellectual inquiry across disciplines. Through this work, he fostered a sense of academic community and belonging while supporting faculty in developing creative and multimodal approaches to teaching. During the shift to remote learning, he guided the program’s transition to digital environments, helping faculty adapt their pedagogy while preserving the integrity and inclusiveness of the learning experience.Across his teaching and leadership, Dr. Yi has worked closely with first-generation and underserved students, creating spaces where intellectual rigor and care exist together. He approaches the classroom as a shared space where knowledge is developed collectively and where students are invited to recognize their own voice as meaningful and necessary.His scholarship explores how students come to experience belonging in first-year writing classrooms, particularly in online and blended environments. Grounded in narrative inquiry and a research practitioner stance, his work attends to the lived experiences of students and considers how relationships, dialogue, and shared practices shape the learning process. His commitment to inclusive and interdisciplinary learning is further reflected in his work as a curriculum development fellow in Black, Race, and Ethnic Studies and as a faculty fellow at the Kupferberg Holocaust Center, where he contributed to programming that centered marginalized voices and supported collaborative teaching practices across disciplines.For him, technology has always been a point of entry into inquiry, a way of opening space for students to ask questions, explore ideas, and participate more fully in the learning process. Tools such as Google became part of that journey as spaces where students could test ideas, follow their curiosity, and make their thinking visible to one another. This perspective continues to inform his work as he engages questions around digital pedagogy, artificial intelligence, and the future of teaching in higher education.At Montclair, Dr. Yi is committed to cultivating communities of practice among faculty, supporting thoughtful approaches to teaching in an increasingly digital landscape, and creating conditions where both faculty and students can grow with intention. His work reflects an ongoing belief that education is not simply about knowledge acquisition, but about building spaces where people can learn with and from one another in ways that are meaningful, sustaining, and transformative.