Our Team

Stephanie Hinshaw is the Associate Vice President of Transformation at Butler University. In this role, Stephanie is accountable for leading innovation efforts and collaborating with Butler’s faculty and staff for transformational change. One of the most notable accomplishments in this role is the creation of a new college, Founder’s College, designed to increase accessibility for students who have great potential and have lacked opportunity. Dr. Hinshaw also serves as a faculty member in the MBA program, teaching leadership. 

Before joining Butler University, Stephanie served as the Provost at American College of Education for seven years and spent 13 years in multiple roles at other higher education institutions. Dr. Hinshaw was recognized for her leadership skills, earning the United States Distance Learning Association’s 2020 Outstanding Leader Award. Stephanie holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Indiana University, a Master of Business Administration from Butler University, and a Doctor of Education in Interdisciplinary Leadership from Creighton University. 

Connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn.

Chad Spann serves as the Associate Director of Marketing at Butler University. In this role, Chad drives strategic marketing initiatives to elevate the University’s brand and foster engagement with students, alumni, and industry partners. His expertise in relationship-building, campaign development, and storytelling supports Butler’s mission to create impactful educational experiences. Chad combines his leadership experience in sports, education, and business to craft innovative approaches to marketing that inspire action and deliver measurable results.

An Indianapolis native, Chad’s journey has been shaped by hard work and perseverance. He earned a B.A. in English from Northern Illinois University. Following college, Chad played professionally in the NFL as a running back for teams including the Colts, Jets, Steelers, Texans, and Buccaneers.

After his NFL career, Chad transitioned to education, becoming an English teacher and Offensive Coordinator at Warren Central High School, where he led the football team to a state championship in 2018. As the Director of the Indy Select Academy, he has mentored student-athletes, helping over 120 players secure college scholarships and guiding multiple athletes to the NFL.

Chad’s professional journey also includes experience in SaaS sales with Zylo, where he built meaningful client relationships while developing expertise in the industry. He is passionate about mentoring, teamwork, and empowering others to achieve their goals.

Connect with Chad on LinkedIn.

William works with the Butler University’s Office of Continuing and Professional Education; the organizational learning and professional development arm at Butler University. William has presented and facilitated internationally on topics such as Dominant Logic, Senior Executive Leadership development, Human Centered Strategic Change Management, Sales and Negotiations, Marketing and Finance, taught New Product Development in Butler’s Lacy School of Business MBA program as well as leading Butler’s team winning multiple Brandon Hall Awards for Corporate University Strategy and Skill Development.

Prior to joining Butler, William held executive and strategic leadership positions for over 25 years in engineering, finance, and operations with companies such as Navistar, Ford Motor Company, and Brightpoint (now Ingram Micro). He was also the co-founder in a private equity backed start-up, leader of operations and finance for a high-growth, bio-hazardous waste start-up, and was a senior executive of a medical device company. William has raised over $20 million investment capital in equity and debt to fuel the growth of companies as well as conducted the negotiations, due diligence, and post-transaction integration efforts for acquisitions and divestitures across multiple industries.

William received an MBA in Finance from the Eli Broad School of Management at Michigan State University, a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, and an Executive Education Leadership Certificate from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Connect with William on LinkedIn

Dr Susan Adamson is the Program Director of the Early Childhood Educator Certificate (ECEC) program. In Spring 2025, she retired from her faculty position at the Butler University College of Education (COE), where she served as COE Education Chair and Associate Professor. Dr Adamson taught methods courses in responsive early childhood reading and writing, supporting preservice teachers in understanding how to cultivate young children’s identities, skills, intellect, and criticality as literacy learners and little humans. She also served as Director of the Partnership for Inquiry Learning for 22 years, providing professional development for in-service teachers of children from birth through grade 8 alongside extraordinary language, literacy and mathematics scholars. In August 2021, on behalf of the Butler University College of Education, Dr Adamson had the privilege of engaging in a year-long collaboration with educators from Early Learning Indiana and Ascend Indiana to create the ECEC Program. Since then, she has been a steadfast leader, teacher, and advocate for developing this unique online learning and job-embedded early childhood educator program, supporting candidates in becoming the teachers they aspire to be.