Joe Way, Ph.D., CTS, executive director of Digital Spaces at UCLA, has helped to change the way higher education students learn and teachers teach—and along the way, he created one of the livelier atmospheres on the InfoComm show floor.
Way was not necessarily destined to make this kind of impact. He was a dual major in philosophy and Greek archeology and earned his master’s in biblical studies. So, how did someone who studied all that become one of our industry's leaders in higher education?
Way entered USC in 1991 for recording engineering, but it wasn't quite what he expected. "This is back in the days when you learned how to run a soundboard by standing behind some old guy with a ponytail smoking off four cigarettes an hour," Way explained. "When I went to college, I didn't want to do theory classes. I wanted to get on the board. I wanted to do stuff."
Despite switching majors, Way still got to do … stuff. USC hired him as a student worker to run the sound and technology at the various venues on campus, like the large auditoriums where live events occurred. "I did that as my job rather than as my major. And when I graduated, I went into the entertainment industry like everyone in L.A.," Way explained with a laugh.
For 10 years, it was a little bit of TV, a little bit of film, and a little bit of live stage events. He owned his own production company, sold it, and then began working for his church in 2011. "That's where I drifted into the commercial side," Way said. "I fell in love with having a purpose with AV."
As it turned out, one of those volunteers was a professor that pointed Way to California Baptist University, an institution that was looking to standardize the way things were done on campus. In 2016, Way started with Cal Baptist, and the rest is history.
He returned to his alma mater in 2019. Still a relatively new face in the field, Way settled in at USC when the pandemic happened. Seemingly always one step ahead, he was as ready as anyone could have been.
As USC was going through its digital transformation, Way asked one simple question: What if we turn every classroom into a Zoom? USC quickly became hybrid ready, so in 2020, they were learning ready. "I remember our provost asked, 'Joe, what are we going to do?'" Way recalled. "And I said, 'We've already solved it.'"
Along the way, the Higher Education Technology Managers Alliance (HETMA) was born, co-founded by Way and his friend, BC Hatchett. After doing an education track at InfoComm circa 2016, Way realized after being in the industry for so many years, he was now an outsider.
"I started the Higher Ed AV Podcast, which later spun off into HETMA, because I didn't really know anybody," Way recalled. Add a global pandemic, a growing presence at InfoComm, an educational summit trip to Japan, and a partnership with AVIXA, and suddenly, HETMA is one of the most influential groups in Pro AV.
It was the AVIXA virtual conference during the pandemic, with no InfoComm, that HEMTA blew up. "That's where it was lightning in a bottle," Way recalled. "Next thing we know, we had 250 people on that call, which was amazing. Now we have 20-some initiatives and our signature Prysm Scholarship, which is probably one of the things I'm most proud of."
Now, HETMA has roughly 6,000 global members and the road has led Way to UCLA. There, along with standardizing AV/IT systems, he's leading the future of higher ed. "Joe embodies what it means to lead with vision and trust," said Melis Vardar, who works with Way at UCLA and became part of SCN's The Nine in 2025. "He challenges us to think beyond boundaries and gives us freedom, confidence, and tools to make it happen."
Way has risen to the top of the Pro AV world because he's never been afraid to stop asking questions, and as he admits, has benefitted from being in the right place at the right time. As he recalled from one of his first mentors in the industry, "Be the first to the bar at a conference and be the last to leave. That's where we start meeting people, so just be there. Don't be afraid to have that conversation. We all might be competitors in some form, but the fact is we're all family. We all have something in common in our humanity."
