Bio


Leticia Britos Cavagnaro, Ph.D., is a scientist turned designer with a knack for creating transformative learning experiences. She holds a Ph.D. in Developmental Biology from Stanford's School of Medicine, and is a former member of the Research in Education & Design Lab (REDlab) from Stanford’s School of Education. She is the co-founder and co-Director of the University Innovation Fellows, a program of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school), which empowers students to be co-designers of their education in collaboration with faculty and leaders at their schools. Leticia was the founding Deputy Director of the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter), an NSF-funded initiative that operated from 2011 to 2016 to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in engineering education across the United States. Leticia works with educators from hundreds of schools and across disciplines in transforming their teaching practices by applying design abilities and pedagogical levers through the Teaching and Learning Studio program of the d.school. In addition, she works with corporate, non-profit and education leaders in the US and abroad in exploring how design can embolden leadership and drive responsible innovation. Leticia teaches Advanced Reflective Practice and Capstone Project to graduate students from Stanford’s Design Impact MS program, and uses emerging technologies to empower learners to be self-directed, action-oriented, and reflective shapers of the future. She was born in Uruguay, grew up in Colombia, and lives in San Francisco with her husband.

Connect with Leticia:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/pub/leticia-britos-cavagnaro/9/b4a/752/
Twitter: @LeticiaBritosC (twitter.com/leticiabritosc)

Academic Appointments


  • Adjunct Professor, Hasso Plattner Institute of Design

Research Interests


  • Assessment, Testing and Measurement
  • Brain and Learning Sciences
  • Collaborative Learning
  • Curriculum and Instruction
  • Lifelong Learning
  • Professional Development
  • Teachers and Teaching
  • Technology and Education

2023-24 Courses


All Publications


  • An Innovators' Movement Does America Need More Innovators? Britos Cavagnaro, L. C., Fasihuddin, H. 2019: 25–50
  • A Moonshot Approach to Change in Higher Education: Creativity, Innovation, and the Redesign of Academia Britos Cavagnaro, L., Fasihuddin, H. Association of American Colleges & Universities. 2016 ; Liberal Education