Dr. Sean M. Leahy is an internationally recognized technologist, futurist, and educator innovating humanistic approaches to emerging technology through a Futures Studies approach. Dr. Leahy is a Foresight Catalyst and Research Scientist for the Future of Being Human Initiative in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society within the College of Global Futures, and Senior Global Futures Scholar for the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University. His work bridges the worlds of academia, research, and practice to creatively inform and support public-facing thinking and engagement at the interface between emerging and transformative technological capabilities and human flourishing.

He is the founding director of the Digital Maker Studio and the IgnitED Labs, an innovative emerging technology laboratory at ASU, the Executive Producer and host for the Learning Futures podcast, and has been recognized by ASU Knowledge Enterprise Research Development as an expert in ethical, legal, and societal aspects of artificial intelligence.

Through futures thinking and strategic foresight, Dr. Leahy’s work is focused on catalyzing thinking associated with advanced technology transitions, technology for good, and the future of being human in a technologically complex world and advances the scholarship in anticipatory uncertainty around preparing the next workforce in emergent technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution including artificial intelligence (AI), extended reality (XR), and Internet of things (IoT). Dr. Leahy's work has been represented in international journals, conferences, invited keynotes and lectures, and the U.S. Department of State Speaker Program. Recently, his impactful policy brief for the G20 2023 Summit in India underscores his commitment to sustainable development. Dr. Leahy is an experienced educator and motivated leader creating award winning curriculum in higher education through Education, STEM, Computer Science, Media Communications, New Media Production, Interactive Digital Media, Photography, and Video Production programs. and is an Apple Teacher with Swift Playgrounds recognition, and Ambassador for the Apple Community Education Initiatives.

Prior to joining ASU Dr. Leahy was serving as an Assistant Professor and Head of Department of Media Communications for Webster University the Netherlands. As head of department, he was responsible for overseeing the accreditation, curriculum, and management of the undergraduate BA program in Media Communications, the graduate MA programs in Media Communications and New Media Production, and the specializations in Interactive Digital Media, Photography, and Video Production.

For inquiries on invited lectures, seminars, professional development, or consulting - please use the contact form.

Education

DOCTORAL DEGREE
Ph.D. Educational Psychology & Educational Technology (May 2015)
College of Education
Michigan State University

MASTERS DEGREE
MA: Educational Technology (May 2008)
College of Education
Michigan State University

UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE
BA: Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media (May 2005)
College of Communications, Arts and Sciences
Michigan State University

Fellowships

Future Today Institute Summer 2018 Fellow - with Amy Webb: https://futuretodayinstitute.com

Professional Associations

Adobe Education Exchange: https://edex.adobe.com/
Apple Community Education Initiative (CEI) Ambassador: https://www.apple.com/education/
Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT): http://aect.site-ym.com/
Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies (CIFS): https://cifs.dk
International Communications Association (ICA): http://www.icahdq.org/

TECHNOLOGY CERTIFICATIONS

Adobe Creative Educator Level 1 (2022)
Adobe Creative Educator Level 2 (2022)
Apple Certified Help Desk Specialist (ACHDS)
Adobe Design Your Creative Course (2022)
Apple Teacher with Swift Playgrounds recognition (2018)
Apple Teacher (2016)
CompTIA A+ Certified
CompTIA Network+ Certified
Graph Analytics for Big Data by University of California, San Diego. (May 2016)
Hadoop Platform and Application Framework by University of California, San Diego (Mar 2016)
Introduction to Big Data by University of California, San Diego. (Feb 2016)
Introduction to Big Data Analytics by University of California, San Diego. (Mar 2016)
ITIL Foundations Certified
Machine Learning with Big Data by University of California, San Diego. (April 2016)
Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist (MCTS)