ASU Chief Well-Being Officer

Founding Director, ASU Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience

Professor and Dean Emerita, College of Nursing and Health Innovation Arizona State University

Dr. Teri Pipe is Arizona State University's Chief Well-Being Officer. Formerly Dr. Pipe served as the Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Innovation at Arizona State University (ASU). She also is the founding director of ASU's Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience. Before coming to ASU in 2011, Dr. Pipe served as director of Nursing Research and Innovation at Mayo Clinic Arizona and was an associate professor of nursing at the Mayo Clinic’s College of Medicine. In 2014 she was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow.

Executive Director, University Engagement at Center: Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience at ASU

Nika Gueci is the inaugural Executive Director for University Engagement at the Arizona State University Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience. Under her direction, Center advances an environment of well-being through the promotion of skills such as mindfulness and compassion to support lifelong resilience. Creating a culture where wellness is of vital importance to the development of human potential is her daily call to action.

Program Manager, Center for Mindfulness, Compassion, and Resilience as an alumni of Arizona State University

Tiara Cash, Program Manager, comes to Center for Mindfulness, Compassion, and Resilience as an alumnus of Arizona State University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Wellness from ASU and a Master’s degree from Western Illinois University in Kinesiology with a concentration in Sports Psychology. Her practice of mindfulness spans the last 19 years of her life, and as a practitioner she has worked in various higher education settings including: athletics, campus recreation, and student success.

Tiara has been granted scholarships, grants, and awards for her work with mindfulness in the student-athlete population, mindfulness and equity/social justice, and creating art with a foundation of mindful practice. In 2018 and 2019 she traveled internationally to present on her research involving mindfulness and overlooked populations. Her career focuses include delving into the intersections of mindfulness in marginalized and unrepresented populations, resilience training for life transitions, and mindful performance art.

In her current role with Center, she works to create innovative programming through workshops, trainings, presentations and events. Her vision is to engage ASU and the surrounding community in life-long learning and personal development with an emphasis on mindful practices and connection through compassion.

Doctoral Student and Research Associate in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation at Arizona State University

Dara James is a Doctoral Student and Research Associate in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation at Arizona State University. She works in the behavioral science field of integrative oncology exploring the use of meditative movement (Tai Chi Easy/Qigong) to improve health-related outcomes in breast cancer survivors. Dara has over a decade of curriculum development and program implementation devoted to mind-body sciences with specific focus on the work of mindful eating and self-compassion. Dara has extensive training in mindfulness, mindful eating, and self-compassion from several institutions. Recently, Dara has incorporated the neurophysiological biofeedback practices of heart rate variability and heart rhythm coherence to improve stress response, self-regulatory behaviors, and overall quality of life. Dara is a Consultant for Center for Mindfulness, Compassion, and Resilience at Arizona State University.

Center for Mindfulness, Compassion, and Resilience as an alumni of Arizona State University

Hanna is employed by ASU’s Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience as the student outreach coordinator. In this role she serves to foster a more compassionate and connected student body at ASU. She acts as a liaison between student organizations and the Center to spread mindfulness through planning events, writing curriculum for the online programs, and leading practices that students can apply to their daily lives. She has also spearheaded Centers sustainability initiative, working to ensure that the the programming and events incorporate care for environmental resilience. Her ultimate goal in this role is to help students manage their daily stresses through healthy practices so that they can more easily achieve their academic goals.

Fitness Program Coordinator, Sun Devil Fitness Complex at the Tempe campus of Arizona State University

Ana Malagon is the fitness program coordinator for the Sun Devil Fitness Complex at the Tempe campus of Arizona State University. She directly oversees personal trainers, weight rooms, and the Devils Adapt program. She received her BS in Business Administration: Accounting from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and MA in Sports and Fitness Administration: Strength and Conditioning from the University of Houston. In the fitness field she has been a certified group fitness instructor and personal trainer for 5 years. She has also been a competitive powerlifter for 7 years and coach for 2 years.

Professor of Exercise Science, College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University

Glenn Gaesser is a professor of Exercise Science in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. Professor Gaesser has had prior academic appointments at the University of Virginia and UCLA. He is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and a member of the American Physiological Society. Professor Gaesser’s research focuses on the effects of exercise and diet on cardiovascular fitness and health and his work has been published in scientific journals, trade publications, newsletters and Internet sites.

Program Coordinator, Sun Devil Fitness Complex at Polytechnic Campus at Arizona State University

Jason Hill was the Head Adaptive Trainer for the Sun Devil Fitness Complex at the Tempe campus of Arizona State University and is now the new program coordinator at the Polytechnic campus of Arizona State University. He has programmed for adaptive individuals ranging from neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s, ALS, and cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and amputees. He has a BS in Exercise and Wellness from Arizona State University and is pursuing his Masters in Physical Education from Arizona State University.

Dr. Jeni Green is a recent graduate from the Exercise and Nutritional Sciences PhD program at Arizona State University (ASU) and also earned a graduate certificate in integrative health. She has a master’s degree in Exercise and Wellness from ASU and a bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science from the University of Utah. Dr. Green’s dissertation research investigated the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of prenatal yoga to prevent excessive gestational weight gain in pregnant women. Her main areas of research interests include women’s health, mental health (e.g., stress, anxiety, depression) and physical activity particularly complementary health approaches (e.g., yoga, meditation, mindfulness). Dr. Green has been a certified yoga instructor since 2012 and recently spent one-month in India studying Hatha yoga. She also has experience teaching mindful practices and yoga to a variety of populations (e.g., high school students, pregnant women). Most recently Dr. Green was a graduate research assistant for a National Institutes of Health funded study investigating the feasibility of online yoga to reduce post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Green is passionate about helping others improve their health and well-being and is eager to share her knowledge as a teacher, mentor, and friend.

Julie Rousseau completed her BA in Education, with an emphasis in Physical Education at California State University of Los Angeles, her MA in Psychology at Pepperdine University, and recently completed her PhD at Arizona State University in the Human Systems Engineering Program, with a focus on the interaction between humans and their environment which often produce stress. Previous to her pursuit of a doctorate degree, Rousseau has had a myriad of head and assistant coaching experiences, which resulted in her interest in the effects of chronic stress within the sports arena.

Miquella graduated from Arizona State University with a B.S. in Integrative Health and Dance. During her time, she researched the mind-body-spirit connection through psychoneuroimmunology, holism and quantum kinesiology with the University of Metaphysics in Sedona. With a background in martial arts, and a career in dance film, Miquella traveled to India, Peru, and Europe, to study transcultural health and environmental phenomenology with her company, Kraken Still and Film. Miquella believes in nothing more than the power of mindful movement to heal, as she continues her studies in Naturopathic and Classical Chinese medicine at National University of Natural Medicine.

Associate Professor of Exercise Science, College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University

Dr. Swan earned her degrees from the University of California (BA), University of North Carolina (MS), and the University of Tennessee (PhD). Dr. Swan has research interests that include Exercise and Obesity and Health, Exercise and Chronic Disease (Metabolic Syndrome), and Regional Adiposity and Health and Disease. In the past, Dr. Swan held the position of President of the Southwest Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine (SWACSM). She is also a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and of The Obesity Society (formerly North American Association for the Study of Obesity). This information is available at: https://chs.asu.edu/pamela-swan.

Ph.D. Candidate, College of Nursing and Health Innovation and a Research Associate in the Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience at Arizona State University.

Tara is a Ph.D. Candidate in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation and a Research Associate in the Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience at Arizona State University. Her background in Health Psychology led her to the transdisciplinary Ph.D. program at ASU, where her training and studies include disciplines such as social work, nursing, health science, exercise and wellness, and behavioral science. Tara received training and mentorship as a Fellow in the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded Interdisciplinary Research Training Institute (IRTI) from 2016 to 2018. In addition to her research and schooling, Tara is also a trained facilitator of Koru Mindfulness, which is a Mindfulness-Based Intervention for emerging adults