Rate My Professor Kris Frady

Kris Frady is an Associate Professor jointly appointed between the Educational and Organizational Leadership Development program in the College of Education and the Engineering and Science Education Department in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences at Clemson University. She holds an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Educational Technology from the University of Florida (2012), an M.A.T. in Business Education from the University of South Carolina (2007), and a B.S. in Management with a minor in Elementary Education from Clemson University (2003). Frady's research focuses on innovations in workforce development at educational and career transitions, two-year college and secondary STEM and career education, educational innovations, and the middle-skill workforce. She has led the development of digital learning tools, including virtual reality applications, advanced e-learning modules, and iBooks to expand technician education capacity.

Frady's career includes roles as corporate trainer at Blackbaud, Inc. (2004-2007), secondary teacher in Career and Technology Education at Eastside High School (2007-2012), and adjunct instructor at Greenville Technical College (2007-2012). Since joining Clemson University in 2012 as a Research Associate with the Center for Workforce Development, she advanced to Director of Operations (2013-2016), Faculty Director (2016-2019), Founding Program Director of the B.S. in Human Capital Education and Development (2019-present), Assistant Professor (2016-2023), and Associate Professor (2024-present). She has served as Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator, or Senior Personnel on external grants totaling over $32 million, including the National Science Foundation CAREER grant 'VECTORS in Engineering: Valuing Education and Career Transition Opportunities Raising Student Success' (2022-2027, $599,944), DEEP Engineering Technology (2018-2021, PI 60%), and CA2VES (2015-2018). Awards include the American Society for Engineering Education Best in Division Award for 'Developing two-year college student engineering technology career profiles' (2021), Clemson College of Education Milestone Award for Cumulative Grant Achievement over $5 million (2019), and Clemson University Libraries Open Educational Research Faculty Award (2023). Key publications encompass the book Managing Technology and Middle- and Low-Skilled Employees: Advances for Economic Regeneration (2019, co-author), 'Exploring technical college student’s collaborative problem solving and teamwork skills in multi-hierarchical engineering design teams' (European Journal of Engineering Education, 2023, co-author), 'Use of virtual labs to support demand-oriented engineering pedagogy...' (European Journal of Engineering Education, 2022), and a chapter 'Workforce development: A nexus between human resource development and career and technical education' in the 2024 Handbook of Human Resource Development.