Dr. Brett Ranon Nachman is a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Higher Education in the Educational Foundations, Organizations, and Policy department at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Nachman’s research explores how colleges can cultivate more equitable learning experiences for underrepresented students, including those informed by some of his salient identities and experiences: autism/disabilities, community college transfer, and LGBTQIA+.
Across Dr. Nachman’s work he promotes connections between scholarship and practice, as evidenced by his role as Director of Research for College Autism Network, a non-profit organization elevating autism advocacy, research, and training. Dr. Nachman serves as co-PI of Postsecondary Education: Autistic Collegians’ Experiences of Success (PEACES), a national study of autistic college student success that received a $500,000 Spencer Foundation Large Research Grant. He spearheads PEACES alongside Bradley E. Cox (Michigan State University) as PI. To date, PEACES has represented the largest and most diverse sample of autistic college students in the United States, cataloguing the experiences and views of hundreds of autistic learners and generating important insights for a variety of stakeholders.
As of July 2024, Dr. Nachman has published, or had accepted to publication, 26 peer-reviewed journal articles, including 16 first-authored pieces, many in the leading education outlets, including The Review of Higher Education, Journal of College Student Development, Community College Review, Teachers College Record, and Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
Dr. Nachman’s teaching tends to focus on issues related to qualitative research, community college leadership and related topic, teaching and learning, and student experiences. He has been honored with a K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award from AAC&U and an ECMC Foundation Postsecondary CTE Research Fellowship. Dr. Nachman’s academic leadership and service has entailed serving on editorial boards for multiple journals, program committees for organizations such as the Association for the Study of Higher Education and the Council for Community Colleges, and as a conference discussant, mentor to junior scholars, and reviewer for many outlets.
Prior to joining the University of Pittsburgh community, Dr. Nachman served as an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas, a postdoctoral research scholar at NC State University’s Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research, a graduate assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an adjunct faculty member at multiple institutions.
Dr. Nachman earned his PhD and Master’s in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; he garnered a Dissertation of the Year award for his work on autistic community college students. Previously he attained his Bachelor’s in Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, as well as his Associate’s in Journalism at Scottsdale Community College (SCC). Dr. Nachman is a proud “Artichoke alum” from SCC, in honor of its vegetable mascot, and was recently awarded an Outstanding Alumni award.
In Dr. Nachman’s spare time he loves to travel, work out, play board games, host his Disney-centered podcast, watch movies, and spend time with his friends and family.
Dr. Nachman is teaching Politics and History of Higher Education in Fall 2024. He has previously taught courses related to qualitative research, teaching and learning, student experiences, community college leadership, and program evaluation, among other topics.
Dr. Nachman’s key research areas of attention center around autism and disability in higher education, community college access, equity, and transfer, teaching and learning issues, and campus climate.
Nachman, B. R. (Accepted). The many dimensions of academic ableism: Career and technical education (CTE) faculty attitudes in engaging with disabled community college students. The Review of Higher Education.
Pryor, J. T., & Nachman, B. R. (Accepted). Doctoral community college leadership program priorities, curriculum, and evolution: Director and alumni perspectives. Innovative Higher Education.
Nachman, B. R., Kim, H., Liu, C., Ottens, M., Cook, K., & Cates, G. (2024). A current state of the knowledge regarding STEM career pathways for students with autism: A systematic literature review. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 37(2), 113-127.
Nachman, B. R. (2024). Community college career and technical education faculty perceptions, preparedness, and propositions in supporting disabled students’ employment opportunities. Community College Review, 52(3), 354-374.
Nachman, B. R. (2023). “It’s like you’re a jockey riding a horse and you’re in a world of centaurs”: Unmasking autistic college students’ identity development. Journal of College Student Development, 64(4), 407-422.
Funded National Grants ($594,501)
- Spencer Foundation Large Research Grant
- Project: “Project PEACES – Postsecondary Education: Autistic College Students’ Experiences of Success”
- Role: Co-Principal Investigator
- Funding Entity: Spencer Foundation (2023-2026)
- Total Award: $499,501
- The FAR Fund Grant
- Project: “Project PEACES – Postsecondary Education: Autistic College Students’ Experiences of Success”
- Role: Co-Principal Investigator
- Funding Entity: The FAR Fund (2022-2025)
- Total Award: $90,000
- Paul P. Fidler Research Grant
- Project: “Piecing Together the Community College Puzzle: How Autistic Students Transition Into and Through Community College”
- Role: Principal Investigator
- Funding Entity: National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition (2020-2021)
- Total Award: $5,000
- ECMC Foundation Postsecondary Career and Technical Education Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2021)
- K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award, Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) (2020)
Editorial Board Member
- Journal of Diversity in Higher Education (2023 – Present)
- Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice (2022 – Present)
- Journal of College Student Development, Research in Briefs (2020 – Present)
Conference Chair
- Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC) 2023 Conference Planning Committee (2022 – 2023)
Conference Section Chair
- Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) 2024 Conference Planning Committee; Student Contexts Section Co-Chair (2023 – Present)
Discussant
- American Educational Research Association Annual Conference (2023)
- International Society for Autism Research Annual Conference (2022)
- Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference (2022)