Dana Lockhart, Ph.D.

Dr. Dana Lockhart's career began in business management, where she spent a decade working with high-profile celebrities and creatives on financial planning and sustainable growth. She later transitioned into education, teaching math in Title-1 schools and developing her expertise in program design.
 

In her doctoral program at William & Mary, she began embedding emotion sciences into research design and expanding the use of episodic interviews — approaches she uses to emphasize the shared nature of experience and deepen our understanding of creative achievement. ​

Dr. Lockhart earned her Ph.D. in Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership at William & Mary while working at the Center for Gifted Education, one of the world’s leading institutions for research on giftedness and talent development. In this role, she supported the coordinated national conferences, collaborated with scholars from multiple disciplines, and managed complex organizational projects that connected researchers, educators, and policymakers. Her work at the Center placed her at the intersection of academic research and practical application, strengthening her expertise and reinforcing her ability to translate scholarship into real-world impact — skills that now underpin her work. ​

Her projects have reached global audiences, consistently reflecting her commitment to creativity, talent development, and well-being. The Assembly for Art & Inquiry emerged from her doctoral research, specifically her dissertation The Story of Eminence: Collaborative Relationships on the Path to Greatness. This multimedia project—available on this site under #storyofeminence—embodies her vision of uniting the arts and research to create a cultural hub where creativity inspires innovation, strengthens communities, and nurtures human flourishing.