Chris Willey
Director of Technology
Chris Willey is a trailblazer in teaching and learning, focusing on emerging creative technologies. Drawing inspiration from the metaphor of gardening, Willey has cultivated a deep teaching philosophy that centers around fostering growth, nurturing creativity, and valuing the process.
As an Adobe Education Leader/Innovator, Willey collaborates with a distinguished community of creative educators on a global scale. With a teaching tenure spanning over a decade at the college level, his expertise spans digital art, digital painting, animation, audio/video production, 3D modeling, and game engines.
He founded the Immersive Media Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, an interdisciplinary research space focusing on emerging creative technologies such as extended reality and generative AI. Willey has written textbooks on art and design, curated art exhibitions at museums, and exhibited internationally.
Trained as a new media artist, Willey holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. He currently lives and works with his wife and dachshund in Cudahy, Wisconsin