Dr. Julie Schell is the Assistant Vice Provost of Academic Technology and the Director of the Office of Academic Technology at The University of Texas at Austin. She oversees the University's technology-enhanced learning ecosystem and works to advance teaching and learning through the strategic use of academic technology. She has led the rollout of the responsible AI initiatives for teaching and learning at UT, including UT Sage, which she founded. UT Sage is a first-of-its-kind generative AI tutor based on responsible AI and learning science principles. In 2026, she was named a top 25 ed-tech influencer to follow by EdTech Magazine and as a Digital Learning Pioneer, for her efforts toward "integrating technology into the classroom to boost teaching and learning." ?Dr. Schell also led the learning design of Grammarly's Faculty Guide to Getting Started with Generative AI. She is a member of Anthropic's Higher Education Advisory Board.

Dr. Schell is also an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Departments of Design and Educational Leadership and Policy. Over the past 11 years at UT, she has taught courses on technology, pedagogy, and learning experience design. In her current studios, Dr. Schell and her students are partnering with generative AI to prototype speculative objects and environments designed to improve teaching and learning. She previously served as an Adjunct Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University.
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A scholar-practitioner, Dr. Schell's interests focus on how people learn complex topics and how to help them learn best, and she has spent her career exploring evidence-based teaching practices. ?
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Dr. Schell has facilitated hundreds of interactive talks, workshops, trainings, panels, and keynote speeches on various topics related to gen AI in education, design thinking, interactive teaching, learning science, and technology-enhanced education. She has led engagements worldwide, including in Aruba, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, Germany, and the United States. She has also facilitated workshops for universities in Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and South Africa. She is the creator of Think Before You Design Think­, a popular introductory human-centered design curriculum she first launched at AT&T and has delivered at Fortune 500 companies and nonprofit organizations throughout the United States. Dr. Schell's approach to design thinking focuses on using the principles of learning science to develop design thinking self-efficacy, especially among non-designers. She has supported thousands of new learners in their journey to understand and apply human-centered design to improve lived experiences.

Before joining the provost's office, Dr. Schell served as the assistant dean of instructional continuity and innovation at the College of Fine Arts, where she led the transition to online learning for over 200 arts and design faculty and academic staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.