Our People

Bard Early Colleges Administrative Team

This is the contact page for the network offices. To contact a specific school, please scroll down.

Bard Early Colleges General Contact
(718) 361-3133 x8726
earlycollege@bard.edu

Stephen Tremaine
Vice President for Early Colleges
tremaine@bard.edu

Tremaine is responsible for leading the Bard Early Colleges, including strategy, partnerships, finances, and program quality. Prior to that role, Tremaine founded the Bard Early College in New Orleans. He holds an MA in English from Tulane University and is completing a PhD in Comparative Literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Clara Haskell Botstein
Associate Vice President for Early Colleges
cbotstein@bard.edu

Clara is responsible for overseeing policy, public partnerships, and strategic initiatives at the Bard Early Colleges. Clara has over a decade of experience in policy work in education and youth development. Clara holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor’s degree in history from Princeton University. Clara serves as Board Chair for the Two Rivers Public Charter Schools in Washington, D.C. 

John Weinstein
Dean of Early Colleges
jweinstein@bhsec.bard.edu

Weinstein has extensive experience in designing and leading training and instructional support for educators in and beyond the early college context. Weinstein is responsible for academic quality and teacher training across the Bard Early Colleges network; additionally, Weinstein leads external teacher training initiatives through the Bard Center for Early College. Weinstein was a founding faculty member at the first Bard High School Early College, founding principal of the Bard High School Early College Newark, and an active scholar in Chinese theater. He holds a PhD in Chinese language and literature from Columbia University.

John Gardenhire
Associate Director of Finance and Operations 
jgardenhire@bard.edu

Brian Mateo
Assistant Dean, Civic Engagement
bmateo@bard.edu 

Brian Mateo is a “connector,” which makes him the perfect person to lead several engagement activities across Bard’s network. Brian works with the international campuses, Early Colleges and the Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program (BGIA). Through his work with the Early Colleges he promotes civic engagement initiatives such as assisting faculty develop Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences courses, administering the Community Action Award program and working with Early College leadership to provide opportunities for students to engage with their communities. He also teaches a course on civic engagement at the Early College in Queens. Brian attended The Pennsylvania State University where he received a Bachelor of Science in Biobehavioral Health and a Master’s of Education in College Student Affairs. Brian also serves on the Advisory Council for the Carnegie Council Ethics for International Affairs New Leaders Program.

Anna Hessa
Development Officer
ahessa@bec.bard.edu

Anna Hessa is a dedicated fundraising professional with a specialty in the cultural sector. As Development Officer, her role is to develop and expand individual philanthropic support for the Bard Early College Network. Areas of expertise include strategic planning, event production, board development, print and digital marketing, and young donor strategy. Anna received her Master of Arts, Visual Arts Administration, from New York University; and her Bachelor of Arts, Art History, from Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee.

Murphy Austin
Data and Evaluation Manager
maustin@bec.bard.edu

Murphy is responsible for program evaluation, data management, and research across the Bard Early Colleges network. He specializes in providing actionable programmatic data and analysis to nonprofit practitioners, drawing from multiple years of experience designing research tools for affordable housing organizations in New York City and Detroit. Austin holds a BA from Swarthmore College in Sociology and Anthropology.

Shazia Muhammad 
Finance Assistant
smuhammad@bec.bard.edu

Sarah Imboden
Grants Officer
simboden@bard.edu

Sarah is an experienced grant writer and administrator who has focused on work with municipalities and nonprofits. She also has a background in journalism. Sarah currently serves as an elected council member in the Town of Red Hook where she focuses on communications, recreation, and sustainability among many other local issues. She has an MA in Public Policy from Rockefeller College, University at Albany and a BA in history.

Ligaya Franklin
Program Associate 
lfranklin@bec.bard.edu 

DJ Hills
Partnerships Associate
dhills@bhsec.bard.edu 

As part of the team for policy, partnerships, and new initiatives, DJ facilitates external partnerships for the Bard Early Colleges and manages the Maryland Alternative Teacher Preparation Program and coordinates licensure programs throughout the network. DJ holds a BA in English and Theatre from Goucher College. 

Our Faculty

Brian Carter, Program Officer, Overdeck Family Foundation
Alexandra Contreras, Senior Analyst, Global Diversity and Inclusion, Colgate-Palmolive; Bard Early Colleges parent
Margaret Hempel, Foundation Director, Gender, Sexuality, and Reproductive Justice, Ford Foundation
Tessa Huxley, Bard Early Colleges parent 
Ben Iselin, Partner, McGuire Woods, LLP; Bard Early Colleges parent 
Charles Johnson, Partner, Holland & Knight LLP; Trustee, Bard College 
Dayna Langfan, Bard Early Colleges parent 
Beth Lief, Executive Director, Petrie Foundation
Matt Mallow, Senior Managing Director and General Counsel, BlackRock
Ray Peterson, formerly Founding Principal of Bard High School Early College Manhattan and Newark 
Jay Quaintance, President, SUNY Sullivan Community College
Geoff Smith, Chair, Managing Director, Digitalis Ventures
Marquitta Speller, Ed.D., Executive Director of Secondary and Collegiate Programs, Harlem Children’s Zone, Inc.
David Tsang, Senior Strategy Consultant, IBM; Bard Early Colleges alumnus