After teaching at UC Merced for the past eight years in the Merritt Writing Program, Dipali Murti-Hali joins the Writing Program at UCSB and returns to the campus where she earned her BA in English.

Dipali has an MFA in Creative Writing from the California Institute for the Arts and an MBA in International Management with an emphasis on marketing and cross-cultural communication from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Her professional interests include writing screenplays and fiction, as well as examining how social media and millennials are changing marketing and communication strategies within the business world.

On a personal level, Dipali enjoys plant-based gourmet cooking, running, and raising her 7-year-old twins, of whom she says "keep my mind expanding with their interesting perspectives and incredible imaginations."