THE CHRONICLE
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP FORUM
JUNE 8-9, 2008
JW MARRIOTT
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Speakers
Goldie Blumenstyk
Senior Writer
The Chronicle of Higher Education
In her 20 years as a reporter and editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education, Goldie Blumenstyk has covered topics touching every corner of higher education: distance education, the Internet boom and bust, state politics, finance and management, fund raising, for-profit higher education, and technology transfer. She earned a B.A. from Colgate University and an M.A. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Before joining The Chronicle, she covered politics and government at The Orlando Sentinel, including a stint as city hall reporter.
Sarita E. Brown
President
Excelencia in Education
Sarita E. Brown has spent more than two decades at prominent national educational institutions and at the highest levels of government, working to implement effective strategies to raise academic achievement and opportunity for low-income and minority students. Starting her career at the University of Texas at Austin by building a national model promoting minority success in graduate education led to appointments with educational associations in Washington, D.C. She subsequently served in the federal government as Executive Director of the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans under President Clinton and Secretary of Education Richard Riley. Maintaining her commitment to improving the quality of education, she applied her talents and experience to the nonprofit sector as Founding President of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute and, since 2004, as Founding President of Excelencia in Education. Excelencia in Education is a 501(c) 3 that aims to accelerate Latino success in higher education by linking research, policy, and practice to serve Latino students.
Scott Carlson
Senior Reporter
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Scott Carlson has been a writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education since 1999, where he has covered technology, libraries, facilities, sustainability, and architecture. He has also written for the City Paper of Baltimore, the Baltimore Sun, Dwell, Preservation, the Utne Reader, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Mr. Carlson is a graduate of the University of Minnesota.
Carol Coletta
President and CEO
CEOs for Cities
Carol Coletta is president and CEO of CEOs for Cities and host and producer of the nationally syndicated public radio show Smart City.
Previously, she served as president of Coletta & Company in Memphis. In addition, she served as executive director of the Mayors' Institute on City Design, a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and American Architectural Foundation.
She was a Knight Fellow in Community Building for 2003 at the University of Miami School of Architecture and is currently a candidate for a Master of Design Methods at the Institute of Design at IIT. She is frequently interviewed as an expert on urban issues by national media and is an active speaker on the success formula for cities and creative communities.
Dedee DeLongpré
Director, Office of Sustainability
University of Florida
Dedee DeLongpré is the director of the University of Florida's Office of Sustainability. She has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Southern California with a concentration in entrepreneurial studies and a master's of business administration with an emphasis in sustainable management from the Presidio School of Management in San Francisco.
She has experience in nonprofit management, primarily in the areas of education and the environment. She served as executive director of the community nonprofit group Sustainable Alachua County. Previously, she developed curricula for graduate-level courses in sustainability while working as an associate for Natural Capitalism Solutions and served as U.S. program director for Fauna & Flora International. She serves on the boards of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education as well as the Council for Sustainable Florida. She was named one of the 10 Innovators of the Year in 2007 by Florida Trend magazine.
Deborah M. DiCroce
President
Tidewater Community College
Dr. Deborah M. DiCroce has headed Tidewater Community College — the largest provider of undergraduate education in Hampton Roads, Va. — since May 1998, following nine years as president of Piedmont Community College in Charlottesville, Va.
During her tenure, TCC has experienced nine consecutive years of higher enrollments, serving nearly 38,000 credit students in 2006-07. This year she was chosen to head Virginia's Council of Presidents, the first community-college president to do so. She has chaired the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and United Way's regional campaign, and serves on numerous governing boards including the Hampton Roads Partnership, Greater Norfolk Corporation, Urban League of Hampton Roads, Sentara Healthcare, Downtown Norfolk Council, and Smart Beginnings South Hampton Roads.
Among community initiatives, she marked the 50th anniversary of civil rights with a photographic mural of sit-ins at the former Woolworth's building, now part of TCC; led TCC's support of Jamestown's 400th anniversary with a premiere opera, Pocahontas; served on Norfolk's homeless commission; and partners with the Jewish community's annual film festival.
She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in English from Old Dominion University and a doctorate in higher education from William and Mary. Retaining her faculty roots, she holds adjunct faculty appointments at UVA, William and Mary, and ODU.
Jean A. Dowdall
Vice President
Witt/Kieffer
Jean A. Dowdall, Ph.D. is a consultant specializing in senior executive searches in higher education. Her book, Searching for Higher Education Leadership: Advice for Candidates and Search Committees, was published in the ACE/Praeger Series on Higher Education, and she has written extensively for the "Moving Up" column in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Following a faculty career in sociology, she was an ACE Fellow, then a dean of arts and sciences (West Chester University), academic vice president (Arcadia University), and president (Simmons College). She has led hundreds of searches for presidents, provosts, and deans. She has been a trustee of The Sage Colleges in New York and is a board member of Orchestra 2001, an innovative chamber orchestra. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University in anthropology, and her Ph.D. in sociology is also from Brown.
Ray Ferrero Jr.
President
Nova Southeastern Univeristy
Ray Ferrero, Jr., is the fifth president of Nova Southeastern University. His involvement with the university began in 1984 as a member of the Board of Trustees. During his six years as chairman of the Board of Trustees, Ferrero played a major role in bringing about the merger of Nova University and Southeastern University, which ultimately resulted in the university's current position as the largest independent university in the southeast and the sixth largest in the United States.
As NSU president, Ferrero has overseen a transformation of NSU's main campus with several new construction projects. He is largely responsible for the creation of the Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center through a partnership with the Broward County Board of County Commissioners. The 325,000-square foot library -- serving NSU students and faculty, as well as the citizens of Broward County -- is the nation's only joint-use facility agreement between a private university and a county government entity.
Ferrero has also expanded the university's presence in Florida and beyond with Student Educational Centers in all major Florida cities east of Tallahassee, including Miami, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach and Southeast Florida.
Ferrero is a past president of the Florida Association of Colleges and Universities, the only non-governmental organization in the state of Florida that represents the common interests of all three sectors, private, state universities, and junior colleges, of the state's higher educational system. He is the immediate past chairman of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF), a diverse association of 28 not-for-profit, private institutions of higher education, and currently serves as the chair for ICUF's council of presidents. He is also a past chairman of the Broward Education Consortium, which includes Nova Southeastern University, Florida Atlantic University, Barry University, Broward Community College and the Broward County School District.
Roger Goodman
Vice President and Team Manager
Moody's Investors Service
Roger Goodman joined Moody's in 2002 and is a member of the rating committee for the higher education, not-for-profit, and healthcare rating teams. He has worked with a diverse portfolio of institutions, including many Ivy League universities and academic medical centers. As leader of the Higher Education Team, he leads nine analysts who are responsible for credit analysis and ratings of colleges, universities, cultural institutions, independent schools, and other nonprofit organizations.
Prior to joining Moody's, he was involved with various organizations including the National Center on Philanthropy and the Law at New York University, the Northeast States Emergency Consortium, and the New York City Office of Management and Budget. He received a B.A. in political science and economics from Brandeis University and an M.P.A in public and nonprofit finance from NYU.
Freeman A. Hrabowski III
President
University of Maryland - Baltimore County
Freeman A. Hrabowski III has served as president of the University of Maryland - Baltimore County (UMBC) since 1992. His research and publications focus on science and math education, emphasizing minority participation and performance. He has co-authored Beating the Odds and Overcoming the Odds (Oxford University Press), on parenting and high-achieving African-American males and females in science. He serves as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and universities and school systems nationally; sits on several corporate and foundation boards (e.g., Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation); and holds numerous honorary degrees, most recently from Haverford College, Princeton, and Duke. He leads an annual seminar on academic leadership for new college and university presidents at the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education. A child leader in the civil-rights movement, he was featured in Spike Lee's 1997 documentary Four Little Girls on the 1963 bombing of Birmingham's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.
John K. Hudzik
Vice President, Global Engagement and Strategic Projects
Michigan State University
John Hudzik is vice president for global engagement and strategic projects and a professor of criminal justice at Michigan State University. He was dean of international programs at MSU from 1995 to 2004. He serves on numerous policy and advisory boards including Australian Education International and Higher Education for Development. He is president-elect of NAFSA and previously served as president of the Association of International Education Administrators. He is a member of the University Working Group of the Overseas Security Advisory Council within the U.S. Department of State and is the national co-chair of the Data and Strategic Analysis Working Group of the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Commission.
Mr. Hudzik's international and domestic research focuses on judicial administration and public budgeting. He is the author of numerous books, monographs, and articles. He is a member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and the National Association of State Judicial Educators. He is the recipient of several national awards and prizes for his work in judicial administration and in international education.
Bill Keller
Executive Editor
The New York Times
Bill Keller became executive editor of The New York Times in July 2003. Before that he had been an Op-Ed columnist and senior writer for The New York Times Magazine as well as other areas of the newspaper since September 2001. Previously, he served as managing editor from 1997 until September 2001 after having been the newspaper's foreign editor from June 1995 until 1997. He was the chief of The Times bureau in Johannesburg from April 1992 until May 1995.
Before that Mr. Keller had been a Times correspondent in Moscow from December 1986 until October 1991, the last three years as the newspaper's bureau chief. He won a Pulitzer Prize in March 1989 for his coverage of the Soviet Union.
Mr. Keller joined The New York Times in April 1984 as a domestic correspondent based in the Washington bureau.
Before coming to The Times, Mr. Keller had been a reporter for The Dallas Times Herald since October 1982. From 1980 until 1982, he was a reporter for the Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report in Washington, covering lobbyists and interest groups. He was a reporter for The Portland Oregonian from July 1970 until March 1979.
Mr. Keller graduated from Pomona College with a B.A. degree in 1970 and completed the Advanced Management Program at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in July 2000. He is currently a member of the board of trustees of Pomona College. He is the author of The Tree Shaker: The Story of Nelson Mandela, published in January 2008 by Kingfisher.
Stephen P. Klass
Vice President for Operations
Williams College
Steve Klass has been vice president for operations at Williams College since August 2006. His portfolio of responsibilities includes the Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives; facilities operations, design, and construction; campus plan; human resources; real-estate operations: dining services; college legal counsel; bookstore; central office services; insurance and risk management; safety and environmental compliance; child-care center; and the conference office.
Prior to his arrival at Williams, he served at the University of Chicago for 11 years, most recently as vice president and dean of students. He previously held administrative positions at the University of Rochester, including director of business affairs and operations.
He received a B.A. with honors in philosophy and religious studies from Hobart College and an M.S. in higher-education administration from the University of Rochester.
Steven Knapp
President
George Washington University
Steven Knapp became the 16th president of George Washington University on August 1, 2007. A distinguished scholar with nearly 30 years of experience in higher-education administration, Knapp previously served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the Johns Hopkins University.
As president, Knapp's priorities include enhancing GW's partnerships with organizations and agencies throughout the nation's capital, increasing the institution's preeminence in research, addressing the affordability of higher education, and strengthening connections with its lifelong and worldwide community of alumni. He also has convened task forces on sustainability and campus safety and security.
A proponent of fostering close community ties, Knapp serves on the board of directors of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Greater Washington Urban League. He is a member of the executive committees of the Council on Competitiveness, Atlantic-10, and the Federal City Council. He also is a member of the Economic Club of Washington and the Committee for Economic Development.
A specialist in 18th- and 19th-century English literature and literary theory, Knapp served for 16 years on the faculty at the University of California at Berkeley, where he held leadership positions in the department of English and on university committees. Knapp earned a master's degree and doctorate from Cornell University and a bachelor's degree from Yale University.
JoAnn McCarthy
Former Assistant Provost for International Affairs
University of Pennsylvania
Dr. JoAnn McCarthy is a consultant on the internationalization of higher education. Formerly assistant provost for international affairs at the University of Pennsylvania, she is a past president of the Association of International Education Administrators. She currently serves as chair of the Committee on International Education Leadership for NAFSA, the world's largest professional association dedicated to international education, and chairs the NAFSA task force on campus internationalization.
She has served on various international boards and advisory groups, including the American Council on Education's International Commission; the Group of Advisors of the Department of Defense National Security Education Program; and the Department of Education Title VI Programs for Foreign Languages and International Studies. She was a member of the board of directors of the Council on International Educational Exchange, and is a frequent consultant, author, and speaker on the internationalization of higher education and the emerging role of the research university in global civil society.
Judith Block McLaughlin
Director, Higher Education Program
Harvard University
Judith Block McLaughlin is educational chair for the Harvard Seminar for New Presidents, senior lecturer on education, and director of the master's and doctoral programs in higher education at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. In 2007, she was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick as chair of the Massachusetts Public Education Nominating Council, the body that nominates candidates to all college and university boards in the state. She previously served as a trustee of Bridgewater State College, the Colonel Daniel Marr Boys and Girls Club in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and the Academic Search Consultation Service.
She has published journal articles on presidential searches, the college presidency, and higher-education governance and frequently consults with college and university governing boards, presidents, and senior administrators. She is co-editor of the New Directions in Higher Education series, published by Jossey-Bass.
Richard Monastersky
Senior Writer
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Richard Monastersky is a senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education, where he reports and edits stories about scientific research. Prior to joining The Chronicle, he was earth-science editor at Science News Magazine. His work has appeared in National Geographic Magazine, Scientific American, New Scientist, and Discover. He has pursued stories on all seven continents, reporting from such places as the top of the Greenland Ice Cap and the South Pole.
He has a bachelor's degree in physics from Wesleyan University. He has twice won the Science Journalism Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as the David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism from the American Geophysical Union, and the American Society for Microbiology's Public Communications Award.
Luis M. Proenza
President
University of Akron
Under Dr. Luis Proenza's experienced leadership, the University of Akron has undertaken several high-profile initiatives that have completely transformed the campus and its surrounding neighborhoods and has positioned the university as a strategic business partner with both government and corporate entities.
A nationally recognized leader, Dr. Proenza was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), the nation's highest-level policy advisory group for science and technology. The group advises the president and assists the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science and Technology Council in securing private-sector involvement in their activities.
Dr. Proenza is a member of the Council on Competitiveness, where he serves on the executive committee and on the National Innovation Initiative Leadership Council, as well as co-chairing the Regional Innovation Initiative. In addition, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
He chairs the Ohio Supercomputer Center and the Commission on Urban Agenda, and he serves on the boards of the State Science and Technology Institute, the Great Lakes Science Center, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and OneCommunity. In 2003, he was appointed by Governor Bob Taft to Ohio's Third Frontier Advisory Board and also serves on the advisory council for Team NEO.
He previously served on the Advisory Board of the U.S. Secretary of Energy, where he chaired the Science and Mathematics Education Task Force; the NAS-NRC Committee on Vision; the National Biotechnology Policy Board; the U.S. Arctic Research Commission (appointed by former President George H.W. Bush); and as advisor for science and technology policy to Alaska Governor Walter J. Hickel.
Dr. Proenza holds a bachelor's degree from Emory University, a master's degree from Ohio State University, and a doctorate from the University of Minnesota.
David Oxtoby
President
Pomona College
David Oxtoby became the ninth president of Pomona College in Claremont, California, in July 2003. A physical chemist, he had previously served as dean of the division of physical sciences at the University of Chicago, where he was William Rainey Harper Distinguished Service Professor. Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, he received his bachelor's degree in chemistry and physics summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1972 and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley in 1975.
He joined the faculty of the University of Chicago in 1977, rising through the ranks to become full professor in 1986. He has written 169 scientific articles in fields ranging from atmospheric chemistry to biophysical chemistry, and is the co-author of two first-year chemistry textbooks. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, has served on the board of Argonne National Laboratory, and currently serves on the boards of Toyota Technological Institute-Chicago, the Webb Schools, Consortium on the Financing Higher Education (COFHE), the Claremont University Consortium Board of Overseers, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and is vice chair of the board of trustees of Bryn Mawr College.
He was a member of the National Science Foundation Mathematics and Physical Science Advisory Committee and is currently a member of their advisory committee on cyberinfrastructure. He has been a visiting professor in Munich, Paris, Bristol, and Sydney. His work has been recognized through fellowships from the Sloan, Dreyfus, von Humboldt, and Guggenheim Foundations, and he is a fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2005 he received an Honorary Degree from Occidental College.
William J. Pepicello
President
University of Phoenix
Dr. Bill Pepicello was born and raised in Erie, Pa, where he earned his bachelor's degree in classics from Gannon University. He holds both master's and doctoral degrees in linguistics from Brown University and has held faculty positions at the University of Delaware, Temple University, and University of the Pacific. He has conducted research and published in the areas of classical languages, linguistics, psychology, anthropology, folklore, and humor studies.
He has held a number of administrative positions, including department chair for classics at Temple and regional dean for southern California for National University. He came to University of Phoenix in 1995, where he served as the first dean of the College of General and Professional Studies. He subsequently held the position of vice president of academic affairs until 2000. At that time, he assumed the position of president of the University of Sarasota; he helped transform that institution into what is known today as Argosy University.
He returned to the University of Phoenix in 2002 as the founding dean of the School of Advanced Studies, home to the university's doctoral programs. In November 2003 he became vice provost for academic affairs and was promoted to provost in January 2006. In June 2006, he was made acting president, and following a national search he was appointed president in September 2006.
As the sixth president of the University of Phoenix, he is responsible for the leadership of the largest private university in the United States.
He is frequently requested as a guest and keynote speaker and has addressed audiences across the country regarding for-profit higher education, non-traditional education, and the changing landscape of American higher education. Serving nationally as a consultant-evaluator, he sits on the Accreditation Review Council of the Higher Learning Commission, a commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools that accredits degree-granting higher-education organizations. Additionally, he serves on Arizona's Commission for Postsecondary Education, under the Office of the Governor, and is a member of the advisory board of the Greater Phoenix Boys and Girls Clubs.
Daniel H. Pink
Author
Daniel H. Pink is the author of A Whole New Mind, a New York Times bestseller that has been translated into 16 languages, and Free Agent Nation, which Tom Peters called "the best book on work since The Organization Man." His latest book, to be published in April 2008, is The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, the first business book for a Western audience in the Japanese comic format known as manga.
His articles on work, business, and technology appear in many publications, including The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Wired, where he is a contributing editor. He also lectures to corporations, associations, and universities around the world on business trends and economic transformation. He received a B.A. from Northwestern University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D. from Yale Law School. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Richard Redding
Director of Community Planning
Philadelphia City Planning Commission
Richard Redding is director of community planning at the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. The community-planning staff prepares neighborhood plans, serves as liaison to community groups, oversees urban renewal planning, and performs studies in community development and transportation. Philadelphia has several major universities (Penn, Temple, Drexel, and St. Josephs, among others) and educational institutions are a major element in community planning, involving town/gown relations, campus development and zoning negotiations.
For much of Mr. Redding's career he was the planner for West Philadelphia, an area that contains the University of Pennsylvania. In this capacity Mr. Redding authored the West Philadelphia Plan (a 150-page comprehensive plan published in 1994); and he became known as someone the community and the university could turn to for advice and data. It was through this kind of work that Mr. Redding met Dr. Ira Harkavy, a professor at Penn and co-founder of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. Mr. Redding has served on the community advisory board of the Netter Center for 15 years. He is an instructor at Penn, teaching seminars in urban studies and city planning. Mr. Redding holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Temple University and a B.S. in community development from the Pennsylvania State University.
Travis Reindl
Program Director
Jobs for the Future
Travis Reindl leads Making Opportunity Affordable, a major national initiative focused on improving college access and affordability supported by the Lumina Foundation for Education.
The initiative's goals are to make higher education more affordable to students and the public without reducing its quality, and to ensure that a greater number of students attain degrees. He also contributes to other Jobs for the Future initiatives that seek to ensure that all young people can obtain a quality high school and postsecondary education.
He was on the staff of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities from 1997 to 2006. At AASCU, he served as director of state-policy analysis and assistant to the president. He led the tracking and analysis of state higher-education policy. He also advocated for the association's members on federal issues in tax policy and institutional accountability, and he served as the project director for Making Place Matter, an initiative supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to bolster regional-stewardship efforts at state colleges and universities.
He has contributed to a number of journals and publications on higher-education policy and management issues, particularly regarding student and institutional finance, state fiscal conditions, and university governance. He is frequently interviewed by regional and national news organizations.
A fifth-generation native of South Dakota, he holds a B.A. in government from the University of Notre Dame and an M.P.P. from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Kathleen Schatzberg
President
Cape Cod Community College
Dr. Kathleen Schatzberg has been president of Cape Cod Community College since 1998. Previously she served as an administrator and faculty member in community colleges in New York and Minnesota; as an English teacher in urban, suburban, and rural public secondary schools; and in the private sector in market research and microform data storage. She earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Nebraska and a doctorate at Hofstra University.
She serves on many boards: Cape Cod Business Roundtable; Workforce Investment Board, Arts Foundation of Cape Cod; Cape Cod Community College Foundation; Cape Cod Center for Graduate Education; the pastoral council of her church; Leadership Council Steering Committee of the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment; and Second Nature, which promotes sustainability education.
At Cape Cod Community College, environmental stewardship, sustainability education, and "green" facilities management have been developing into ever more comprehensive form since 1995 - commitments that she heartily shares.
Jeffrey Selingo
Editor
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Jeffrey Selingo was named editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education in August 2007. He directs a staff of more than 70 editors and reporters, in print and online.
Previously, he had been an assistant managing editor and senior editor at The Chronicle since 2002, overseeing coverage of higher-education policy, campus leadership, fund raising, as well as surveys of presidents and trustees.
Before that, he had been a reporter covering state politics. In his 10 years at The Chronicle, his work has been honored with a National Award for Education Reporting from the Education Writers Association, a Dateline Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, and finalist status for a Livingston Award in national reporting.
Prior to coming to The Chronicle, he was the environmental reporter for the Wilmington (N.C.) Star-News. He was a member of the staff that won a North Carolina Press Association Award for its coverage of two major hurricanes in 1996, and was the recipient of the state's top Associated Press writing award. He also worked for The Ithaca (N.Y.) Journal, and as a recipient of the Pulliam Journalism Fellowship he covered business technology for The Arizona Republic.
He received his bachelor's degree in journalism from Ithaca College and a master's degree in government from the Johns Hopkins University.
Frank Sesno
CNN Special Correspondent and professor of public policy and communication at George Washington University
Frank Sesno is an internationally recognized journalist with over 30 years of experience reporting from around the world. Well known as an anchor, White House correspondent, and talk show host with CNN, he is also a nationally renowned moderator, engaging some of the world's leading personalities. As professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University, he is building an academic hub for highly innovative production, teaching, and symposia in emerging media and public policy.
He joined CNN in 1984 and for seven years was White House correspondent, after which he moved to the anchor chair. From 1996 through 2001, he served as the Washington bureau chief and senior vice president. For seven years, he hosted Late Edition with Frank Sesno, CNN's flagship weekend interview program. He has won many prestigious journalistic awards, including a national and regional Emmy.
Prior to his current academic appointment at George Washington University, he was university professor of public policy and communication at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He serves on the board of trustees of the Potomac School in McLean, Virginia, and as an advisory board member of the POSSE Foundation's D.C. Chapter. He is a past trustee of Middlebury College, from which he holds an honors degree in American history, and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Journalism Award committee.
Robert N. Shelton
President
University of Arizona
Robert Shelton assumed the presidency of the University of Arizona in July 2006. He is a native of Arizona and prior to returning "home" he served as executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (the country's first public university). Dr. Shelton and Adrian Shelton, his wife of more than 35 years, met as undergraduates at Stanford University. His Ph.D. in experimental condensed-matter physics is from the University of California at San Diego. In addition to his academic career, Dr. Shelton has served on a variety of corporate and government boards, including the Space Telescope Institute Council that advises NASA on the Hubble Space Telescope.
David E. Shi
President
Furman University
Dr. David E. Shi became president of Furman University in 1994. Prior to that, he spent one year as Furman's vice president for academic affairs and dean and another 17 years teaching history at Davidson College. He is the author of several books, including The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture (1985), which was a History Book Club selection. Two other books were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. He is also co-author of the best-selling textbook America: A Narrative History, now in its seventh edition. His columns and essays have been published in newspapers across the country and are heard regularly on South Carolina Educational Radio. In 2006-07, he chaired the board of directors for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. A 1973 graduate of Furman, he holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history from the University of Virginia.
Ray Suarez
Senior Correspondent
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
Ray Suarez joined The NewsHour in October 1999 as a Washington-based senior correspondent.
He has more than thirty years of varied experience in the news business. He came to The NewsHour from National Public Radio, where he had been host of the nationwide call-in news program "Talk of the Nation" since 1993. Prior to that, he spent seven years covering local, national, and international stories for the NBC-owned WMAQ-TV in Chicago.
In 2006 Rayo/HarperCollins published his examination of the tightening relationship between religion and politics in America, The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America. Suarez also wrote The Old Neighborhood: What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration (Free Press), and has contributed to several other books. His writing has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and many other publications.
Earlier in his career, he was a Los Angeles correspondent for CNN, a producer for the ABC Radio Network in New York, a reporter for CBS Radio in Rome, and a reporter for various American and British news services in London. Over the years he has narrated, anchored or reported many documentaries for public radio and television. He is the host and narrator of the upcoming documentary Jerusalem: Center of the World (Oregon Public Broadcasting), and is the narrator for National Geographic TV's new series, Animal Genius. He is also the host of the monthly foreign affairs program America Abroad, heard on Public Radio International stations nationwide.
He holds a B.A. in African history from New York University and an M.A. in the social sciences from the University of Chicago.
Dawn Geronimo Terkla
Associate Provost
Tufts University
Dawn Geronimo Terkla is an associate provost at Tufts University. She oversees the management of the Office of Institutional Research & Evaluation; provides guidance on issues relating to institutional research, outcomes assessment, and evaluation; and gives critical management information to senior administrators. In addition, she is the university accreditation liaison officer.
She has held several leadership positions: president of both the North East Association for Institutional Research and the Association for Institutional Research, and chair of the NPEC executive committee. In addition, she has served on the HEDS board of directors, the UCLA/ACE Cooperative Institutional Research Program advisory committee, the NAICU Commission on Policy Analysis, and several NPEC technical review panels. Her research interests include college-choice decisions, retention, management information, assessment, and evaluation.
She earned her doctorate at Harvard University, an MPP from the University of California at Berkeley, and a bachelor's degree from Ohio Wesleyan University.
Eugene P. Trani
President
Virginia Commonwealth University
Dr. Eugene P. Trani is president of Virginia Commonwealth University, an urban research university enrolling nearly 32,000 students and offering 205 degree and certificate programs. As president since 1990, he has led a transformation of the university, which includes the establishment of the School of Engineering, the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park, VCU Life Sciences, the VCU Health System, and a visionary master site plan. He also has directed VCU's internationalization efforts, most notably with the establishment of the VCU School of the Arts in Qatar.
A scholar of history and U.S. foreign affairs, he is the author of several books, including The Presidency of Warren G. Harding and The First Cold War: The Legacy of Woodrow Wilson in U.S.-Soviet Relations, co-authored by Donald E. Davis. His next book, Distorted Mirrors: American Images of Russia and China, 1891-1991, will be published in English, Russian, Chinese, and Spanish in 2009. Another book - on higher education and economic development - will also be published in 2009 and is under contract with the American Council on Education.
Neil Weissman
Provost
Dickinson College
Neil Weissman is the provost, dean of the college, and a professor of history at Dickinson College. He received his B.A. from Colgate University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Russian history from Princeton University.
Dickinson's global-education program has been cited as a model of internationalization by both the American Council on Education and NASFSA: Association of International Educators. He has played a central role in Dickinson's efforts both to establish a comprehensive network of study-abroad sites and to internationalize the curriculum on the home campus. He served as director of international education, managing the college's NEH-supported "excellence in a field" project in international education, and has continued to lead development of the global-education program as provost.
He also serves on the editorial advisory board of Liberal Education and the Eastern Advisory Council of the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education.
Judy Woodruff
Senior Correspondent and 2008 Political Editor
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
Broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff has covered politics and other news for more than three decades at CNN, NBC, and PBS. Most recently, she signed on as a senior correspondent and political editor for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
In early 2007, Woodruff concluded initial reporting and production, along with MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, on Generation Next: Speak Up. Be Heard. Generation Next is a project that interviewed American young people and reported on their views, and included an hourlong documentary that aired on many PBS stations in January 2007, a series of reports on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, reports on NPR and in USA Today, and partnerships with Yahoo! and Film Your Issue. A second hourlong Generation Next documentary aired on PBS stations on September 5, 2007.
For 12 years, Woodruff served as anchor and senior correspondent for CNN, anchoring the weekday political program Inside Politics. At PBS from 1983 to 1993, she was the chief Washington correspondent for The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, and from 1984-1990, she anchored PBS's award-winning weekly documentary series Frontline with Judy Woodruff.
At NBC News, Woodruff served as White House correspondent from 1977 to 1982. For one year after that she served as NBC's Today Show chief Washington correspondent.
Mark S. Wrighton
Chancellor
Washington University in St. Louis
Mark S. Wrighton, Ph.D., became the 14th Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis, its chief executive officer, in July 1995. He received a B.S. in chemistry from Florida State University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Caltech in 1972.
From 1990-95 he was provost and chief academic officer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). An MIT faculty member since 1972, he was appointed head of the chemistry department in 1987. He holds 14 patents, authored more than 300 research papers, and co-authored the book, Organometallic Photochemistry. He has served on numerous governmental panels, including the National Science Board, and has been a consultant to industry. His memberships include the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Philosophical Society.
Last year, Washington University announced the establishment of the International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability.
Jeffrey Zaslow
Columnist
The Wall Street Journal
Jeffrey Zaslow is a feature columnist for The Wall Street Journal. Earlier in his career, he was an advice columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he replaced Ann Landers.
Twice in the past five years, Zaslow's column was named the best general-interest column among newspapers with more than 100,000 circulation by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. His many TV appearances have included "The Tonight Show," "Oprah," "Larry King Live," "60 Minutes," "The Today Show," and "Good Morning America."
Zaslow attended Randy Pausch's final lecture, and wrote the story that sparked worldwide interest in it. He is the coauthor with Dr. Pausch of the new book The Last Lecture, published by Hyperion.