Dr. Rita Kumar, Professor of English, is the Executive Director of the Faculty Enrichment Center at the University of Cincinnati (UC).  in this role she provides the organizational leadership for the Center and manages the professional development programming for faculty at UC.  She is the 2013-14 recipient of the UC Blue Ash Innovative Teaching Award for her inventive use of Problem Based Learning (PBL) in the classroom.  Dr. Kumar is a member of the UC Academy of Fellows for Teaching and Learning. Her research  and scholarship focuses on Problem -Based Learning, innovative pedagogy, inclusive classroom practices and improving students’ information literacy skills. She has shared her research globally in over seventy professional presentations. Her work has been published in journals such as Teaching English in the Two-Year College, International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, College Teaching, and The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem Based Learning. Additionally, she serves as a reviewer for several journals.

She has taught in China as a visiting scholar and led Study Abroad to Britain India and Spain.  Dr. Kumar has served as the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College Institutional Representative for the American Council on Education Women’s Network-Ohio (ACE WNO) since 2019. She is the organization co-recipient of the 2019 Dr. Marian Spencer Equity Ambassador Award at UC. She is the co-editor of  the book, Equity and Inclusion: Strategies for the Classroom (Expected publication in spring 2021).