Executive Director
Biography
Dr. Jason Neben grew up in Orange County, California, where he attended St. John’s Lutheran School and Orange Lutheran High School. Enjoying the Lutheran educational environment throughout K-12, he was called to the vocation of teacher in Lutheran education and pursued post-secondary studies at Concordia University Irvine.
Jason graduated from CUI with honors and was awarded the Mathematics Student of the Year award. Earning a teaching credential and Student Teacher of the Year recognition the following year launched the first phase of his professional journey in education as a middle school math and science teacher at his alma mater, St. John’s Lutheran School. After 10 years in elementary and middle school education, a call from his collegiate alma mater brought him back to CUI.
Now an Associate Professor of Educational Technology, Jason has previously served at CUI in multiple roles for Student Affairs, the School of Education, and the Provost’s Office. In his appointment as Executive Director for the Office of Innovative Instruction and eLearning (OIIE) he leads a dynamic team tasked with facilitating new academic initiatives and supporting instructional design and academic media development across all schools and disciplines.
Jason completed his doctoral studies in instructional technology and distance education at Nova Southeastern University where he studied instructional design, media development, and online administration. He completed the program with a doctoral dissertation titled Perceptions of College Regents Regarding Diffusion of Online Education in a Small Liberal Arts University. His research interests include diffusion of innovations theory, its implications for online education, and application at the institutional level. A part of his doctoral study work, "Attributes and Barriers Impacting Diffusion of Online Education at the Institutional Level: Considering Faculty Perceptions", was published as a chapter in the book Beyond the Online Course: Leadership Perspectives in eLearning.
More often than not, Jason is recognized as Amber Neben’s husband, and he wouldn’t want it any other way. Amber is a two time Olympic and three time World Champion cyclist for Team USA and much of Jason’s free time is spent supporting Amber’s cycling career as it has brought both of them to many different parts of the world. In his vocation as husband he has been a mechanic, soigneur, manager, counselor, attorney, accountant, travel agent, web designer, and sherpa; and loved every minute of it. In 2010 Jason and Amber founded The Dare To Be Project, a nonprofit 501c3 charitable organization that inspires and equips physically challenged children with adaptive cycles to actively DARE TO BE their dream.