2013 Conference Speakers

Keynote Speaker – Sir John Daniel

Former Assistant Director-General, Unesco, and former President of the Commonwealth of Learning

Sir John Daniel served as a university president for 17 years in Canada (Laurentian University) and the UK (The Open University) before joining UNESCO as assistant director-general for education in 2001 and assuming the presidency of the Commonwealth of Learning from 2004-12.

Among Sir John’s 330 publications are his books Mega-Universities and Knowledge Media: Technology Strategies for Higher Education (Kogan Page, 1996) and Mega-Schools, Technology and Teachers: Achieving Education for All (Routledge, 2010).

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for services to higher education in 1994 and holds 32 honorary doctorates and fellowships from universities in 18 countries.  He now works on a variety of international projects, notably as Education Master in the Beijing DeTao Masters Academy, China and Chair of the UWC (United World Colleges) International Board.

Keynote Speaker – Chad Gaffield

President, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Chad Gaffield, one of Canada’s foremost historians, has been President of SSHRC since 2006. In this capacity he has helped define a new model of innovation that places understanding about people—human thought and behavior—at the organization’s core, and that reaffirms the contributions of social sciences and humanities research to our economy and quality of life.

Gaffield has won many awards for his teaching and research. The University of Ottawa named him Researcher of Year in 1995 and Professor of the Year in 2002. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he received the society’s J.B. Tyrrell Historical Medal in 2004 for his outstanding contribution to the study of Canada. In 2007, the Canadian Association of University Teachers presented him with its Distinguished Academic Award in recognition of excellence in teaching, research and service to the community. In 2011, he was the inaugural winner of the Antonio Zampolli Prize, awarded by the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations to recognize a single outstanding output in the digital humanities by a scholar.

Gaffield received his BA and MA from McGill University, and his PhD from the University of Toronto.

Keynote Speaker – Andrew Keen

Author, Internet Entrepreneur

Andrew Keen is an Internet entrepreneur who founded Audiocafe.com in 1995 and built it into a popular first generation Internet company. He is currently the host of “Keen On”show, the popular Techcrunch chat show, a columnist for CNN and a regular commentator for many other newspapers,  radio and television networks around the world. He is also an acclaimed speaker, regularly addressing the impact of digital technologies on 21st century business, education and society. He is the author of the international hit “CULT OF THE AMATEUR: How The Internet Is Killing Our Culture” which has been published in 17 different languages and “DIGITAL VERTIGO: How Today’s  Social Revolution Is Dividing, Diminishing and Disorienting Us”, his controversial critique of contemporary social media.

Keynote Speaker – Adrian Monck

Managing Director, Head of Communications and Media, World Economic Forum

Adrian Monck is the Managing Director and Head of Communications at the World Economic Forum (WEF). Prior to joining the WEF, he was a professor of journalism at City University, London, and held varying positions at Instituto de Empresa, Madrid, and the University of Hong Kong. Mr. Monck has been an active member in the media, having been a journalist and editor with CBS News, ITN and Sky News, among other media outlets. He was President of Britain’s Media Society and serves as chair or judge on varying award juries including International Emmies, BAFTAs, RTS, Broadcast and British Press Awards. With Mike Hanley, he co-authored Crunch Time – How Everyday Life is Killing the Future (2007) and is the sole author of Can You Trust the Media (2008).

Philip G. Altbach

Director, Center for International Higher Education, Boston College

Philip G. Altbach is J. Donald Monan, S.J. University Professor and director of the Center for International Higher Education in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. He was the 2004–2006 Distinguished Scholar Leader for the New Century Scholars initiative of the Fulbright program, and in 2010 was an Erudite Scholar of the Government of Kerala in India. He has been a senior associate of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and has taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo, the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Harvard University.

Altbach most recently coedited Paying the Professoriate: A Global Comparison of Compensation and Contracts (Routledge), and The Road to Academic Excellence: The Making of World-Class Research Universities (World Bank).

Tade Akin Aina

Program Director for Higher Education and Libraries in Africa, Carnegie Corporation of New York

Tade Akin Aina is the Program Director for Higher Education and Libraries in Africa for the Carnegie Corporation of New York. He has served as Consultant for UNDP, UNICEF, UN-HABITAT, the United Nations University and the World Bank on issues such as urban poverty, higher education reform, governance, environment and development. He was a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Nigerian Environmental Study Team (NEST) and founder of the Lagos Group for the Study of Human Settlements. Tade was Professor, Department of Sociology at the University of Lagos, Nigeria and Deputy Executive Secretary (publications) at the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Dakar, Senegal from 1993 to 1998. Thereafter he was employed by the Ford Foundation, Nairobi office for a ten-year term. Tade Aina is widely published with over 50 articles and chapters in learned journals and books. 

Larry Arbeiter

Associate Vice-president, University of Rochester

Larry Arbeiter was a science writer and director of communications at the University of Chicago for many years before becoming associate vice president for communications at the University of Rochester. He has been responsible for media relations, publications, reputation management and graphic identity efforts, and he has collaborated on web, book and branding projects at both universities. He has taught a history of journalism course to low-level Chinese government officials and was co-executive producer of a 2007 PBS biography of Milton and Rose Friedman.

Phil Baty

Editor, Times Higher Education

Phil Baty is editor, Times Higher Education Rankings, and editor at large of Times Higher Education. Phil has been with the magazine since 1996, as reporter, chief reporter, news editor and deputy editor. He received the Ted Wragg Award for Sustained Contribution to Education Journalism in 2011, part of the Education Journalist of the Year Awards, run by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. He was a runner-up for the annual Paul Foot Award for Campaigning Journalism, run by The Guardian newspaper and Private Eye magazine in 2007. He was named among the top 15 “most influential in education” by The Australian newspaper in 2012. Phil is a regular speaker at international conferences, contributing recently to events organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, British Council, British Academy and others. Phil writes regularly on global higher education for leading newspapers.

Nicole Blanchett Neheli

Professor, Sheridan Institute of Technology

Nicole Blanchett Neheli is the co-ordinator of and a professor in the Journalism Broadcast Program at the Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Oakville, Canada. She is a regular contributor and section editor of The Canadian Journalism Project and has served as a judge for the Gemini news awards and the Atlantic Journalism Awards. Blanchett Neheli holds a B.A.A in Journalism and MA in Professional Communication. Her research speciality is participatory journalism and her findings are showcased on her blog, Redefining Journalism. She previously worked as a daily news show producer and writer at Citytv in Toronto. 

James Bradshaw

Higher Education Reporter, Globe and Mail

James Bradshaw has been covering higher education for The Globe and Mail since 2010. Prior to that, he worked as a cultural reporter for Globe Arts, and has written for both the Toronto section and the editorial page. He is a recipient of the Edward Goff Penny Memorial Prize, and joined The Globe and Mail in 2007. He holds degrees in English from Queen’s University and the University of Toronto, and was a Junior Fellow at Massey College.

Katie Britton

Program Director, WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Katie Britton has been with WAMC Northeast Public Radio for over a decade. During that time she’s been a producer, board operator, News Director, and currently holds the position of Program Director. Aside from overseeing the programming, she’s also in charge of the WAMC Internship Program, and community outreach. Her voice can be heard on The Roundtable & National Productions. She holds a BA in English and writing from the University at Albany.

Louise Brown

Education Reporter, Toronto Star

Louise Brown has covered education for the Toronto Star on and off since Bill Davis was in Premier of Ontario. She covers issues from kindergarten to grad school and is particularly interested in the impact that family background and demographics have on student learning, and how schools try to address the unique learning needs of certain groups, from new Roma refugees to Filipino children reuniting with their parents; students who are Jamaican, or Portuguese, or latino… At the post-secondary level she also writes about the changing nature of teaching and the student experience. She won a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal in 2012 and a Star “e-read” in January about former TDSB director Chris Spence’s plagiariam scandal. Louise is a graduate of the University of Toronto and Western University and grew up in Toronto.

Tony Burman

Velma Rogers Graham Research Chair, Ryerson University and former Managing Director of Al Jazeera English, former Chief Strategic Advisor for the Americas, Al-Jazeera

Tony Burman was Al Jazeera’s head of strategy in The Americas and was Managing Director of Al Jazeera English from 2008-2010.  He oversaw AJE’s efforts to expand its reach and reputation in the U.S. and Canada as the world’s leading global news provider.

Between 2000 and 2007, he was Editor-in-Chief of CBC News in Canada., overseeing CBC’s TV, radio and online operations. In his 35-year CBC career, he was also an award-winning news and documentary producer in more than 30 countries, spanning the Middle East, Europe, Africa, the United States and Latin America.

Simona Chiose

Education Editor, Globe and Mail

Simona Chiose is Education Editor at The Globe and Mail where she co-ordinates education coverage across the media company’s multiple platforms. Prior to this role, Simona was an arts editor at The Globe and graduate student at the University of Toronto from where she has an M.A. in political science and is currently completing a PhD that focuses on immigration policy-making. She has worked as a freelance journalist and television producer, university instructor, served on university administrative boards and student organizations and worked as an editor and television producer. 

Rahul Choudaha

Director of Research and Strategic Development, World Education Services

Dr. Rahul Choudaha is Director of Research and Strategic Development at World Education Services, New York (wes.org/RAS). He specializes in internationalization of higher education from the perspective of strategic planning, student mobility and transnational education. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Studies in International Education (JSIE) and has presented more than 50 sessions at professional conferences. Dr. Choudaha earned a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Denver, a Master’s degree in Management and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from India. He also blogs on www.DrEducation.com and tweets @DrEducationBlog

Megan Clement

Deputy Editor, The Conversation UK

Megan Clement is Deputy Editor of The Conversation UK. A foundation editor of the Australian website, she was seconded to the UK this year to launch The Conversation in London. She has covered Energy + Environment, Science + Technology and Politics + Society for the site, and now covers the day-to-day operations of the London newsroom. Her work on asylum seekers with Professor Sharon Pickering was recognised with an Australian Human Rights Award in 2012.

Shaun Curtis

Director, University of Exeter, International Exeter

Shaun Curtis was appointed Director of International Exeter in August 2009.  He is responsible for implementing the University of Exeter’s Internationalisation Strategy, managing a team of 30+ individuals to develop stronger links with leading international universities and to expand and diversify Exeter’s international student body.  Previously, Shaun was the inaugural Head of the UK Higher Education International Unit at Universities UK and was Research Manager at the Economic Development Office of the City of London Corporation.  Shaun has had a diverse career over the last 20 years, working in the public, private and university sectors.  He received a BA in Politics and an MA in Middle East Politics from the University of Exeter, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto.

Josh Dehass

Editor, Maclean’s

Josh Dehaas covers campus news and edits student and professor contributors for Maclean’s On Campus, Canada’s website for current and future post-secondary students. He has contributed dozens of articles on higher education to Maclean’s magazine, the Maclean’s University Rankings and the Maclean’s Canadian University Guidebook. Josh holds a history degree from the University of Guelph (2008) and a Master of Journalism degree from the University of British Columbia (2010). He lives in Toronto.

Roopa Desai Trilokekar

Assistant Professor, York University

Roopa Desai Trilokekar is an assistant professor at York University. Her areas of interest include internationalization, intercultural education, government policy on higher education, as well as the student learning experience as it pertains to study abroad, and internationalizing teacher education. Her edited books include Making Policy in Turbulent Times; Challenge and Prospects for Higher Education (to be published in 2013, with Paul Axelrod), Canada’s Universities Go Global (with Adrian Shubert, York University, and Glen Jones, University of Toronto). Prof. Desai Trilokekar has also written widely on higher education in Australia, and India.

Gili S. Drori

Associate Professor, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Gili S. Drori is associate professor of sociology and anthropology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. She was awarded Ph.D. in sociology by Stanford University in 1997. Before joining HUJI in 2011, she was at Stanford University for 22 years, initially as a graduate student and later as Lecturer of International Relations and Director of Honors Program in International Relations. She also taught at the University of California Berkeley, the Technion (Israel), and University of Bergamo (Italy) and in 2010 was a guest scholar at the Forum on Peace, Democracy and Justice in Uppsala University (Sweden). Gili’s five books and tens of journal articles and book chapters tell of her research interests in: globalization; science, innovation and higher education; technology divides; culture and policy regimes; and organizational rationalization.

Jeffrey Dvorkin

Director, University of Toronto Journalism Program and Executive Director, Organization of News Ombudsmen

Jeffrey Dvorkin is a lecturer and the director of the Journalism program at the University of Toronto. As the Rogers Distinguished Visiting Professor of Journalism, he taught journalism at Ryerson University in Toronto. In Washington, DC he was the Shapiro Fellow at the George Washington University and taught media ethics at Georgetown University. He was a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University and held the Goldensohn Chair in Community Journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Mr. Dvorkin’s career includes stints at various news organizations around the world, including CBS News, CBC TV, CBC Radio and NPR, where he was the organization’s first news Ombudsman.

Mr. Dvorkin has co-authored four position papers on objectivity and balance in public broadcasting for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in Washington and has been a consultant on issues of media accountability in Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, Turkey, Portugal, Armenia and Chile. He is on the board of the International News Safety Institute. In June 2010, Mr. Dvorkin was in Guinea and Niger for the US Department of State doing pre-election training for journalists in West Africa.

Mary Dwyer

Senior Editor, (University Rankings), Maclean’s

Mary Dwyer has been responsible for coordinating Maclean’s annual university rankings since 1994. In 2006, she helped to develop Maclean’s interactive online ranking tool and in the following year, oversaw a major revision to the ranking methodology. In addition, she serves as an editor on the annual Maclean’s Canadian Universities Guidebook, as well as the annual Student Issue and Professional Schools Issue.

Mary holds a B.A. in English and Drama and an M.A. in Drama from the University of Toronto.

Sheila Embleton

Distinguished Research Professor of Linguistics, York University

Sheila Embleton, FRSC, is Distinguished Research Professor of Linguistics, York University. Her former positions include VP Academic & Provost 2000-2009, Associate Dean of Arts 1994-2000, Chair of the Ontario Council of Academic VPs 2004-2008 and the National VPs Academic Council, President of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, president of the main international scholarly organizations in her fields, and member of numerous boards and advisory groups nationally and internationally. Her academic background is in both mathematics and linguistics. Her research areas are historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, dialectology, mathematical/statistical methods in linguistics, onomastics, and policy and practical issues in contemporary post-secondary education and internationalization, especially in Canada, India, and the EU.

John Fraser

Master, Massey College

John Fraser is the Master of Massey College. Previously he was Editor of Saturday Night magazine, and correspondent, bureau chief, editor, columnist and critic for the Globe and Mail. He is a regular featured columnist in Maclean’s, and a past Chair of the Canadian Journalism Foundation.

Mr. Fraser has written ten books, ranging from The Chinese: Portrait of a People (Collins, 1980) an international bestseller in eight languages, to Eminent Canadians: Candid Tales of Then and Now, an acclaimed study of four historical establishment figures compared with the current occupants of their posts. His most recent book, published in 2012 is The Secret of the Crown: Canada’s Affair with Royalty published by House of Anansi Press.

Mr. Fraser is the recipient of numersous journalism awards and holds honorary degrees from Memorial University (D.Litt.), King’s College University (D.C.L.), and York University (LL.D.). In January 2002, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

Katherine Forestier

Director, Education Link Ltd.

Katherine Forestier is director of the education research and editorial consultancy Education Link Ltd, based in Hong Kong.  She is an International Associate of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and advises policy bodies and institutions on their international activities. She also contributes to University World News, returning to her roots in education journalism. Previously, she was Director of Education and Society at the British Council Hong Kong (2006-2012), and Education Editor of the South China Morning Post (2000-2006). She has managed many research projects, such as Hong Kong: Transnational Education at the Turning Point (British Council, 2011).  She also led the development of the council’s work on women’s leadership in higher education. Katherine has a master’s degree in History from the University of Cambridge and is studying for a Doctor of Education with the University of Bristol. 

Melonie Fullick

Writer, Doctoral Candidate, York University

Melonie Fullick is a writer, researcher, and Ph.D. Candidate in Education. Her current research focuses on university governance, Canadian post-secondary policy, and organizational change, examining the processes and effects of policy changes at various levels on the experiences of students, faculty, staff and administrators. She holds a BA in Communication Studies from McMaster University and an MA in Linguistics from York University. Melonie has written for various publications including Inside Higher Ed, the Globe and Mail, University Affairs, and Academic Matters, and she can be found on Twitter at @qui_oui and through her blog, Speculative Diction.

Frank Furedi

Author and Professor Emeritus, University of Kent

Furedi’s research is oriented towards the study of the workings of precautionary culture and risk aversion in Western societies. Furedi’s writings offer an authoritative yet lively account of key developments in contemporary cultural life. Using his insights as a professional sociologist, Furedi has produced a series of agenda-setting books including: Paranoid Parenting (2001), Culture of Fear (2002), Therapy Culture: Cultivating Vulnerability In An Uncertain Age (2003), Where have All The Intellectuals Gone?: Confronting 21st Century Philistinism (2005), Politics of Fear: Beyond Left and Right (2005), Invitation to Terror: The Expanding Empire of the Unknown (2007). His books have been translated into 11 languages. Furedi also regularly comments on radio and television. His articles appear in a variety of circulars and newspapers.

Jonathon Gatehouse

Senior Correspondent, Maclean’s

Jonathon Gatehouse is a Senior Correspondent for Maclean’s, Canada’s national news magazine. Formerly a reporter for the Montreal Gazette and National Post, he has covered Canadian and US politics, Middle Eastern conflicts, five Olympic Games, natural disasters and the odd pop star. He is also the author of the book, “The Instigator: How Gary Bettman Remade the League and Changed the Game Forever.” 

Anna Goldfinch

Ontario National Executive Representative, Canadian Federation of Students

Anna Goldfinch is the Ontario National Executive Representative for the Canadian Federation of Students, Canada’s oldest and largest student organization. In her role, Anna helps to coordinate campaigns and services for the more than 300,000 members of the Federation in Ontario.

In 2007, Anna served as President of the Champlain College Students’ Association in Lennoxville, Quebec, where she successfully organized students from her college to attend a province-wide demonstration on tuition fees for the first time in the association’s history. More recently, Anna served as Vice President External and Campaigns Coordinator at the Carleton University Graduate Students’ Association, where she led a successful campaign to reinstate access to childcare subsidies for low-income graduate students in the city of Ottawa and helped organize the 2012 Student Day of Action in Ottawa.

Anna holds a Bachelor of Community, Public Affairs and Policy studies from Concordia University and a Master’s of Public Administration from Carleton University.

Shari Graydon

Media educator, author, journalist, critic

Shari Graydon is an award-winning author, journalist and communications consultant with more than 20 years of experience on both sides of the microphone. A former newspaper columnist, TV producer and commentator for CBC radio and TV, she also served as press secretary to a provincial premier, and as president of MediaWatch, now renamed Media Action, a non-profit women’s organization advocating for improvements to the portrayal and representation of women in the media. She has also taught communications at Simon Fraser University and Kwantlen Polytechnic University. 
  
Shari is the founder and catalyst of Informed Opinions, a non-profit initiative that trains and supports experts in making their ideas and knowledge more accessible to print, broadcast and online information media. She has written two award-winning books for youth about media (Made You Look – How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know and In Your Face – The Culture of Beauty and You) and edited the best-selling recent collection,  I Feel Great About My Hands.

Trish Hennessy

Director, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Ontario

Trish Hennessy is the founding director of the new Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ (CCPA) Ontario office. She also founded and directed the CCPA’s national project examining income inequality in Canada, which began in 2006. Trish is a former newspaper journalist. She has a B.A. Sociology from Queen’s University, B.S.W. from Carleton University, and M.A. in Sociology from OISE/University of Toronto.

Scott Jaschik

Editor, Inside Higher Ed

Scott Jaschik is one of the three founders of Inside Higher Ed. With Doug Lederman, he leads the editorial operations of Inside Higher Ed, overseeing news content, opinion pieces, career advice, blogs and other features. Mr. Jaschik is a leading voice on higher education issues, is quoted regularly in publications nationwide and publishes articles on colleges in publications such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post and Salon. He has been a judge or screener for the National Magazine Awards, the Online Journalism Awards, the Folio Editorial Excellence Awards and the Education Writers Association Awards.

Mr. Jaschik is a mentor in the community college fellowship program of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media. From 1999-2003, Scott was editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Previously at The Chronicle, he held numerous other positions and his reporting work was honored by Investigative Reporters and Editors and The Washington Monthly.

Glen A. Jones

Professor, OISE/University of Toronto, Ontario Research Chair, Postsecondary Education Policy and Measurement

Glen Jones is the Ontario research chair in Postsecondary Education Policy and Measurement and the Associate Dean, Academic at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. His research focuses on higher education systems, policy and governance and he is a frequent contributor to the higher education research literature. In 2007 he held a visiting fellowship at Fudan University in Shanghai and in 2008 he was an Erasmus Mundus visiting professor at the University of Oslo.

His edited books include Creating Knowledge, Strengthening Nations: The Changing Role of Higher Education (with Patricia McCarney and Michael Skolnik) and Governing Higher Education: National Perspectives on Institutional Governance (with Alberto Amaral and Berit Karseth). An expanded version of his 1997 book Higher Education in Canada: Different Systems, Different Perspectives was translated into Chinese and published by Fujian Education Press in 2007. In 2001 he received the Distinguished Research Award from the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education.

His most recent book (co-edited with Roopa Desai Trilokekar and Adrian Shubert) is entitled Canada’s Universities Go Global and was published by Lorimer in 2009.

Sarah Kendzior

Writer, Al Jazeera, Foreign Affairs

Sarah Kendzior is a writer and researcher who studies digital media and politics. Most of her research centers on the authoritarian states of the former Soviet Union, with a particular focus on Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. She has a PhD in anthropology from Washington University (2012) and an MA in Central Eurasian Studies from Indiana University (2006). Kendzior is a columnist for Al Jazeera English, where she writes about foreign affairs, digital media, and exploitation and inequality in the United States, particularly in higher education. She is a contributor to Foreign Policy, the Atlantic, and other publications.

Waleed Khan

Marketing and Media Manager, Georgetown University SFS-Q

Waleed Khan is the Marketing and Media Manager at Georgetown University SFS-Q, one of the leading research universities based in Qatar. He is responsible for all marketing activities for the institution, including branding, advertising, online and off-line media and PR. Prior to this role, Waleed was working as a Senior Marketing Manager for IIR Middle East, where he worked on projects such as the HR Summit, Leaders in Dubai and Turkmenistan Investment Forum.  Waleed has a degree in Marketing and Psychology from York University, Toronto, Canada.

Born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Canada, Waleed now lives in Qatar with his wife and daughter.

Mark Kingwell

Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto

Mark Kingwell is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto and a contributing editor of Harper’s Magazine.  He is the author of sixteen books of political, cultural and aesthetic theory, including the national bestsellers Better Living (1998), The World We Want (2000), Concrete Reveries (2008), and Glenn Gould (2009).  His articles on politics, architecture and art have appeared in, among others, Harper’s, the New York Times, the Guardian, Utne Reader, BookForum, the Walrus, the Toronto Star, and Queen’s Quarterly; he is also a former columnist for Adbusters, the National Post, and the Globe and Mail.  Mr. Kingwell has lectured extensively in Canada, the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Australia on philosophical subjects. He is the recipient of the Spitz Prize in political theory, National Magazine Awards for both essays and columns, an Outstanding Teaching Award at the University of Toronto, and in 2000 was awarded an honorary DFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design for contributions to theory and criticism.  His recent books are a collection of his essays on art and philosophy, Opening Gambits (2008), and with Joshua Glenn and cartoonist Seth, The Idler’s Glossary (2008) and The Wage Slave’s Glossary (2011). A new collection of his essays, Unruly Voices, was published in fall 2012.

Larry Lauer

Vice Chancellor for Government Affairs, Texas Christian University

Larry D. Lauer is Vice Chancellor for Government Affairs and Distinguished Professor of Strategic Communication in the Schieffer School of Journalism at Texas Christian University (TCU).  He is also an Adjunct Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC. Previously he was TCU’s first Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communication, and has been recognized as an integrated marketing pioneer. Lauer is the author of three books on integrated marketing and strategic communication in higher education, and has lectured or consulted on the topic in more than 18 countries.  The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education recognized his life time service to CASE and the advancement profession at its international Summit for Advancement Leaders in 2012

Jenny Leonard

Editor, Futurity

Jenny Leonard is a writer and editor who has held various appointments in communications at the University of Rochester for the past 12 years. She currently serves as editor of Futurity.org, a nonprofit website that highlights research news from top universities in the US, UK, and Australia. Futurity launched in 2009 and is led by Duke, Stanford, the University of Melbourne, the University of Leeds, and the University of Rochester.

Pericles Lewis

President, Yale-NUS

Pericles Lewis, Founding President and Professor of Humanities at Yale-NUS College, formerly served as Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Yale University. As President, he has advocated for liberal arts and sciences education that encourages critical thinking in the context of a residential community of learning. He has responsibility for all aspects of the College’s operations, including the articulation of the College’s mission, development of an innovative curriculum and co-curricular activities, maintaining the financial well-being and physical infrastructure of the College, oversight of teaching and research programs, and recruitment, development, and well-being of an outstanding student body, faculty, and staff.

Nora Loreto

Communications Coordinator, Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario

Nora Loreto is an associate editor with the Canadian Association of Labour Media and she blogs at www.noraloreto.ca, Rabble.ca and the Huffington Post. Nora has written for several publications, most recently Briarpatch and Canadian Dimension magazines. She is writing a book about the challenges that are facing the labour movement in Canada posed by generational segmentation in the labour force. Nora has a degree in Public Administration from Ryerson University and is completing a Master’s of Education Foundations at the University of Saskatchewan.

Karen MacGregor

Global Editor, University World News

Karen MacGregor is one of the founding editors of University World News, the weekly international higher education e-paper, and is currently its Global Editor and director of the Africa Edition. She is a former foreign editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement, and for 10 years wrote about Southern African news and current affairs for a range of publications including Newsweek (New York), The Sunday Times (London), The Independent (London) and The Globe and Mail (Toronto). MacGregor holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Kent, UK.

Maria Mathai

Director, M.M. Advisory Services

Maria Mathai has over 19 years of experience in the Indian education sector, with over 9 years as a specialist in International Education. Prior to founding M.M Advisory Services in 2010, Maria was Director of the Canadian Education Centre in India, a Government of Canada supported organization to promote Canada as an education destination. She has been responsible for design and implementation of several pioneering initiatives in the international education relations between Canada and India. At CEC India, Maria produced the first detailed report on the Indian international education market for British Columbia’s Ministry of Advanced Education and Labor Market Development. She works with provincial governments, universities and colleges in Canada to help them establish and deepen their engagement in the Indian market. She is also Advisor to the President, University of Alberta for the Indian market. Maria publishes a newsletter, The Inside India Report, that tracks key trends and developments in the international education sector in India.

Mary Beth Marklein

Higher Education Reporter, USA Today

Mary Beth Marklein has been USA TODAY’s higher education reporter since 1997. She covers national — and increasingly international — trends related to higher education policy, finance, admissions and teaching and learning. She has covered education stories out of Germany, Indonesia, Belize, Nicaragua and Vietnam. In 2007, through a fellowship awarded by the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, she wrote about community colleges from a local, national and international perspective. She spent the 2004-05 academic year teaching journalism at the University of Bucharest and Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj, Romania, as a Fulbright Scholar. She also has taught journalism courses at American University in Washington, DC. She has a bachelor’s from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a master’s from American, and is currently pursuing graduate studies at George Mason University in Northern Virginia, where her emphasis is on the internationalization and globalization of higher education.

Kevin McCaffrey

Director, Government and Community Relations, Mount Holyoke College

Kevin McCaffrey is the director of government and community relations at Mount Holyoke College and has held that post since July 2010.  Previously, he served as associate director of the College’s Office of Communications, overseeing media relations, the College’s web news presence, and other areas and initiatives.  Before coming to Mount Holyoke in 1993, Kevin worked in communications and press relations at Boston City Hall.  Kevin serves on a number of local boards, has strong ties in the community, and is a member of the Public Relations Society of America’s Councillors to Higher Education.  

Sandy McKean

Associate Dean, Film, Television and Journalism, Sheridan College

Sandy McKean is the Associate Dean, Film, Television and Journalism, in the Sheridan College Faculty of Animation, Arts and Design in Oakville, Ontario. Sandy joined Sheridan College in 2006 after three decades working in the media industry.

 His journalism career has included stints as a daily newspaper reporter, a wire service reporter with Canadian Press, and numerous assignments with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a radio and television news reporter, producer, executive producer and senior news executive.

 Sandy was a founding Executive Producer of the CBC’s 24- hour news and information network and founding Executive Producer of Newsworld International. He was later appointed Head of Network Television News for CBC and later Director of Administration and Staff Development.

 He is currently an executive member of HOMAD (Heads of Media, Arts and Design) for Ontario Colleges.

David Miller

Professor of Sociology, University of Bath

David Miller is Professor of Sociology at the University of Bath. His research interests mainly revolve around the role of communication in the constitution and reproduction of power relations.

Goolam Mohamedbhai

Former Secretary General, Association of African Universities, Honorary President, International Association of Universities

Goolam Mohamedbhai was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius from 1995 to 2005 and Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities from 2008 to 2010. He served as President of the International Association of Universities from 2004-2008. He has also been Chairman of several other university associations, including the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) from 2003-2004. He was Chairman of the Africa Regional Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge and a member and Vice-Chair of the governing Council of the United Nations University. He is the recipient of several honorary doctorates and awards, including the insignia of Grand Officer of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean from the President of Mauritius in recognition of his distinguished contribution to higher education, and the ACU Symons Award 2009 for outstanding contribution to the ACU and to Commonwealth universities.

Tehobo Moja

Professor of Higher Education, New York University

Dr. Teboho Moja has held visiting professorships at University of Oslo, University of Tampere, University of Pretoria, and currently the University of Johannesburg.

Dr. Moja was the founder member of the Union of Democratic University Staff Associations (UDUSA) and was also appointed to the Centre for Educational Policy Development (CEPD) as a policy analyst for higher education. In these roles she oversaw the production of a policy documents for the transformation of higher education in South Africa. Following the South Africa’s first democratic elections, Dr. Moja served as a Special Advisor to two Ministers of Education, and was appointed Executive Director and Commissioner of the National Commission on Higher Education. She has served on boards for UNESCO, Councils of Universities in South Africa, and the first Robben Island Museum Council. Dr. Moja has also been a consultant to the government of Ethiopia, the World Bank and major funding agencies based in the U.S.A.

Robert Morse

Director of Data Research, U.S. News & World Report

Robert Morse is director of data research for U.S. News & World Report and has worked at the company since 1976. He develops the methodologies and surveys for the U.S. News Best Colleges and Best Graduate Schools annual rankings, keeping an eye on higher-education trends to make sure the rankings offer prospective students the best analysis available. He also plays a key role in the other U.S. News rankings: Best High Schools and Best Online Degree Programs. He is the author of the Morse Code: Inside the College Rankings widely read blog which provides deeper insights into the methodologies and is a forum for commentary and analysis of college, grad, and other rankings.

Zukiswa Mthimunye

Researcher, New York University

Zukiswa Mthimunye is a researcher at Teacher’s College, Columbia University and New York University. She is involved in research with Prof. Teboho Moja at New York University, United States. She is also a Research Assistant at Columbia University’s Teacher’s College where the focus of her work currently is on school climate and school experience for learners in low socio-economic communities across various regions including the United States, Brazil, India and Mozambique.

Zukiswa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Industrial Psychology from the University of the Witwatersrand, a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration from the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), University of Pretoria, and has recently completed her MSc. International Business from the University of London. 

Bill Murphy

Vice President of Communications, University of Rochester

Bill Murphy has been vice president for communications at the University of Rochester since 2006. He is responsible for the University’s communications efforts, including overall strategy, crisis communications, media relations, periodicals, publications, graphic identity, and the Web. He is a co-founder of Futurity.org, which is based at Rochester. Murphy has held leadership positions in communications at Ohio State, Illinois, and Chicago. Murphy has a Ph.D. from Chicago in modern Irish history.  He is the author of The Parnell Myth and Irish Politics, 1991-1956 (1986) and co-editor of The Idea of the University of Chicago: Selections from the Papers of the First Eight Chief Executives of the University of Chicago (1976).

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois

Former spokesman, Broad Coalition of the Association for Student Union Solidarity

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois is the former spokesperson of the Coalition large de l’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (CLASSE), the student union that was representing the majority of the students during the province-wide student strike in Québec in 2012. Currently Mr. Nadeau-Dubois is a student studying Philosophy at the Université de Montréal. He holds a degree in Humanities from the Université du Québec à Montréal. He is has traveled widely as an invited speaker to discuss topics on higher education policy, democracy and social movements.

David Naylor

President, University of Toronto

David Naylor has been President of the University of Toronto since 2005.  He earned his MD at Toronto in 1978, followed by a D Phil at Oxford where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Naylor completed clinical specialty training and joined the Department of Medicine of the University of Toronto in 1988.  He was founding Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (1991-1998), before becoming Dean of Medicine and Vice Provost for Relations with Health Care Institutions of the University of Toronto (1999 – 2005).  Naylor has co-authored approximately 300 scholarly publications, spanning social history, public policy, epidemiology and biostatistics, and health economics, as well as clinical and health services research in most fields of medicine. Among other honours, Naylor is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Foreign Associate Fellow of the US Institute of Medicine, and an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Janice Neil

Associate Professor, Ryerson University

Janice Neil is an Associate Professor in the Ryerson School of Journalism, teaching television and radio journalism for students in the Bachelor of Journalism and Masters of Journalism programs. Earlier, she was an Assistant Professor on the journalism faculty at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Prof. Neil is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journalism Project (J-Source.ca), a national, non-profit web publication which provides information, commentary and resources for professional journalists, academics and students. Her academic research includes professional practices, foreign news on Canadian television and, media coverage of election nights. 

Her journalism career included Senior Producer of Metro Morning, Toronto’s #1 radio morning show, Senior Editor of TVOntario’s Studio 2 that involved producing documentaries, studio discussions and interviews. She also worked as an on-air reporter, mostly with CBC Radio and CBC TV, in London (UK), Toronto, Regina, and Saskatchewan.

Andrew Ng

Co-Founder, Coursera, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University

Andrew Ng is a Co-founder of Coursera, and a Computer Science faculty member at Stanford.  In 2011, he led the development of Stanford University’s main MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) platform, and also taught an online Machine Learning class that was offered to over 100,000 students, leading to the founding of Coursera.  Ng’s goal is to give everyone in the world access to a high quality education, for free.  Today, Coursera partners with top universities to offer high quality, free online courses.  With 80 partners, nearly 400 courses, and more than 3.6 million students, Coursera is currently the largest MOOC platform in the world.  Outside online education, Ng’s research work is in machine learning; he is also the Director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab

Jane Ngobia

Jane Ngobia works as a human rights and equity director, professor and administrator in the university sector. Currently, Jane is the Director, Human Rights and Equity at the University of Guelph- Canada. Most recently, Ngobia was director of diversity and equity initiatives at the Ontario College of Art and Design University.

Previously, Jane served as diversity and leadership officer at the University of Toronto and was a lecturer at Centennial College. She was dean of students, lecturer and deputy department head at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). She belongs to several boards and professional associations, including the Canadian Association for the Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment in Higher Education, the Senior Women Academic Administrators of Canada, and the Toronto Council of Educators. Jane holds a PhD in higher education in theory and policy development from the University of Toronto.

Zha Qiang

Associate Professor, York University

Qiang Zha is an associate professor at the Faculty of Education, York University. His research interests include international academic relations, global brain circulation, globalization and education, internationalization of higher education, East Asian and Chinese higher education, differentiation and diversity in higher education, theories of organizational change, knowledge transfer and commercialization, and international migration and development. He has written and published widely on these topics in journals such as Compare, Higher Education, Higher Education in Europe, Harvard China Review, and as book chapters. In 2004, he was a co-recipient of the inaugural IAU/Palgrave Prize on Higher Education Policy Research. His most recent books include a co-authored book (with Ruth Hayhoe, Jun Li and Jing Lin) Portraits of 21st Century Chinese Universities: In the Move to Mass Higher Education (Comparative Education Research Centre, University of Hong Kong and Springer, 2011), and two edited volumes Education and Global Cultural Dialogue: A Tribute to Ruth Hayhoe (with Karen Mundy, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) and Education in China. The Educational History, Models, and Initiatives (Berkshire Publishing, forthcoming). Since 2011, he has joined in an Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada research initiative, Canada-China Human Capital Dialogue, as an Associate Team Member.

Sarah Rankin

Law Student, University of Toronto

Sarah Rankin is a combined JD/MA Criminology and Sociolegal Studies candidate at the University of Toronto. Her professional (and personal) focus is criminal law and social justice. She is keenly interested in the place where access to education and access to justice collide, as well as conversations around higher education, curiosity, pragmatism and post secondary funding, more generally.

Elizabeth Redden

Reporter, Inside HigherEd

Elizabeth Redden reports on international education for Inside Higher Ed. She reports on such subjects as study abroad, internationalization of the curriculum, and the recruitment and integration of international students. Her articles and essays have appeared in a variety of publications, including Gastronomica, The Hechinger Report, Orion Magazine, The Swarthmore College Bulletin, and The Washington Post. She holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University.

Stavros Rougas

Co-founder, Media Spot Me

Stavros Rougas is co-founder of Media Spot Me which connects journalists with varying experts. The initial focus was on academics connecting with journalists. Mr. Rougas worked as a TV producer in Toronto on The Agenda with Steve Paikin where he regularly selected professors to interview. Stavros’ career in journalism started with reports for CBC Radio from Moldova and Kazakhstan. Stavros has acted as an election observer, including during the 2004 Ukrainian election that brought the “Orange Revolution” to power. Mr. Rougas speaks French, Russian, Greek and English.

Jesse Rosenfeld

Freelance Journalist, Contributor to the Nation, the Toronto Star, the Guardian, and le Monde Diplomatique

Jesse Rosenfeld is a journalist who covers Middle East and North American politics and social issues. Based primarily in the Middle East since 2007, he was in North America as  the occupy movement spread across  the US and Canada. During the spring and Summer of 2011, Rosenfeld was filing from the front lines of  anti- Austerity protests in the UK and Greece as well as the second flotilla of international activists to Gaza. He then spent six months reporting from Montreal on Quebec’s Student unrest in 2012 before moving back to Ramallah. Exploring the impact of war, occupation, authoritarianism and revolt in the Middle East he has witnessed both Gaza wars, The Arab Spring, Palestinian national division, Israeli expansionism and Egypt’s constitutional crisis.  His writing has been published with the Guardian (UK), Le Monde diplomatique (France), the Nation (US), The Irish Times, Toronto Star, The National (Abu Dhabi), Al Jazeera English, Foreign Policy (US), Maisonneuve Magazine (Canada), NOW Magazine and  Haaretz (Israel), among other publications.

Mark Rosenfeld

Executive Director, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA)

Mark Rosenfeld is the Executive Director of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) which represents 17,000 professors and academic librarians in Ontario universities. He is also the publisher of OCUFA’s journal Academic Matters which examines from a variety of perspectives current trends in Canadian and global higher education and consideration of academe’s future direction.

He is a graduate of York University and the University of Toronto and has a Ph.D in Canadian labour history.  He has taught at the University of Toronto, York University and the University of Edinburgh and has been a policy advisor in the Ministry of Education and Training and Ministry of Labour.  His publications include articles ranging in topic from government funding and policy directions for universities in Ontario to provincial labour market adjustment programs.  He has also co-edited a book titled Gender and History in Canada.

Anne Sado

President, George Brown College

Anne Sado has been president of George Brown College since 2004, joining the college after a long and distinguished career with Bell Canada. Her impact on the vision, direction and culture of the college has resulted in significant growth at George Brown, and has activated a critical public discussion on the value of college education in Ontario’s economic development. Beyond her day to day leadership role, she is Chair of ORION, Chair of Polytechnics Canada and sits on numerous other boards. She has been recognized as one of YWCA’s 2012 Women of Distinction in Education and twice by The Women’s Executive Network™ as one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women.  Anne also received The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal for her role impacting the socioeconomic vitality of Toronto through her work at George Brown. She earned her engineering and MBA degrees from the University of Toronto, and received an honorary doctorate of laws from her alma mater in 2011.

Rick Salutin

Columnist, Toronto Star

Rick Salutin’s plays include 1837 and Les Canadiens, which received the Chalmers award for best Canadian play. His TV work includes Maria, about union organizing in the textile industry. He has written biography and history, as well as three novels, one of which, A Man of Little Faith, won the Books in Canada best first novel prize. He received the Toronto Arts Award in writing and publishing in 1991 and the National Newspaper Award for best columnist in 1993 . He held the Maclean Hunter chair in ethics in communication at Ryerson University from 1993 to 1995 and has taught in the Canadian Studies program of University College, the University of Toronto, since 1978 . He has written columns for Canadian Business, Toronto Life, TV Times, and This Magazine. He was Globe and Mail media columnist from 1991 to 1999 and op-ed columnist till 2010. He has written a weekly oped column for the Toronto Star since early 2011.

Zane Schwartz

Zane is News Editor at The Varsity, Canada’s largest student newspaper. He writes freelance, contributing regularly to the education section of the Globe and Mail. He appears regularly in the media as a commentator on education and youth issues, served as a panelist on CP24 in the lead up to the 2011 Ontario Provincial election, and was a member of the Toronto Star’s Youth Nation Panel. In high school, he founded the Ontario Student Survey, which earned him recognition as one of Canada’s Top 20 Under 20 for being an effective advocate of educational reform. 

Yojana Sharma

Asia Editor, University World News

Yojana Sharma is Asia Editor of University World News. She was a foreign correspondent for many years for news agencies and major newspapers including the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph and Sydney Morning Herald with postings in Geneva, Brussels, Central America, Hong Kong and China, New Delhi and Berlin before returning to London as an international affairs writer and commentator for the Times Educational Supplement. She has a degree in International Relations from the University of Sussex, a postgraduate qualification in Digital Media Management from London University and studied International Economic Relations at the University of Konstanz, Germany. Her books include the novel The Buffalo Thief (published in French as Les Jardins de Mardpur) and an analysis of India’s satellite television industry: Television in India: Perspectives and Opportunities in a Changing Environment.

Rod Skinkle

CEO and Co-founder, Academica Group

Building upon his background in higher education student affairs research, Rod has led Academica Group to become a leading provider of higher education focused policy, consumer research, enrolment and organizational innovation and strategic consulting internationally.

Rod has pioneered the development of research tools and studies for North American institutions and is the founder of the largest ongoing syndicated study of higher education consumers in North America, the University & College Applicant Survey (UCASTM). This pioneering study has provided valuable insights into the motivations and aspirations of post-secondary students from 1996 to present. In addition to his overall leadership and executive responsibilities, Rod has published and presented widely and has committed Academica Group to maintaining a thriving higher education policy research division focusing on critical topics such as accessibility, student success, and institutional development.

Aron Solomon

Educator, Entrepreneur

A global strategist, entrepreneur, and advisor, Aron Solomon has over a quarter century of experience at the intersection of education and innovation.

Aron launched the first independent school in-house consulting business, which became profitable in its first year. Soon after, Aron became Chief Operating Officer of an early global e.learning initiative. In this role, he established and communicated a new online brand throughout the world with a focus on India and China. He was also the Chief Executive Officer and first employee of THINK Global School, the most innovative high school in the world, where students study in three international cities each academic year. Aron speaks widely on educational issues, and provides consulting to a wide range of companies.

 Aron holds an undergraduate degree in Political Theory , a graduate degree and teaching certificate in English and Economics, a law degree, and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago. He is also a 2011 graduate of Sweden’s leading-edge Hyper Island Master Class.

Vinita Srivastava

Assistant Professor, Journalism, Ryerson University

Vinita Srivastava is an assistant professor of Journalism at Ryerson University. Before beginning her 2nd career as a prof, Vinita spent over 10 years as a reporter and editor in New York, co-hosting a weekly radio show, ‘The Asia Pacific Forum’ and working for publications like the Village Voice, Vibe magazine and T: the New York Times Style Magazine. At Ryerson, Vinita led a media education initiative, The Verse City Project, to encourage Toronto’s ‘priority’ youth to engage with media. In 2008, she traveled to Rwanda to work as a media instructor for the Rwanda Initiative. Her research is about race, representation and resistance in the media; she is currently producing an oral history website about hip-hop generation journalists.

Ken Steele

Co-founder, Academica Group Inc.

Ken Steele has a unique, wide-ranging perspective on higher education, as a former academic, entrepreneur, consultant and de facto journalist. Ken earned more than 30 major graduate and undergraduate awards while studying English Literature at Western and the University of Toronto. As a PhD student, he taught first-year Shakespeare, edited hundreds of electronic renaissance texts, published and presented, and launched an online SHAKSPER conference that persists 26 years later. Ken is also an experienced marketer and entrepreneur who has managed an advertising agency and three consultancies, won national awards for marketing strategy, and won regional business awards for public service and outstanding business achievement. For the past ten years, a company Ken co-founded, Academica Group, has conducted the largest PSE consumer studies in the world, amassing millions of insights into higher ed perceptions, trends, and marketing communications effectiveness. Almost 20,000 subscribers have come to rely on Ken as editor of Canada’s leading higher ed news daily, Academica’s Top Ten, and he has consulted extensively with a hundred colleges and universities across Canada.

Robert Steiner

Director, Fellowships in Global Journalism, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto

Robert Steiner is Director of the Fellowships In Global Journalism at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. The Fellowships are a fundamentally new type of post-graduate training in global journalism, for starting journalists with advanced knowledge of complex disciplines. He was an award-winning foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and formerly Assistant Vice-President of the University of Toronto.

Julian Weinrib

Julian Weinrib is Research Officer at the University of Toronto, working in the Faculty of Arts and Science on teaching and learning policies and practices. He has spent time working as a Senior Policy Analyst for the Ontario Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities and for the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. He completed his dissertation at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto in 2012, with research focusing on the international political economy of higher education, particularly relating to bilateral and multilateral development organizations, and issues of academic labor and governance in Canadian higher education systems and institutions.

Jon Western

Five College Professor of International Relations, Mount Holyoke College

Jon Western is Carol Hoffman Collins ’63 Professor of International Studies and Five College Professor of International Relations at Mount Holyoke College and the Five Colleges, Inc.  He is the Director of the Five College International Relations Program and chairs the Mount Holyoke College Nexus on Law, Public Policy, and Human Rights.

Joel Westheimer

Professor, University of Ottawa

Joel Westheimer is University Research Chair in Democracy and Education at the University of Ottawa, Canada and education columnist for CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning show. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University and his B.S.E. from Princeton University. Westheimer’s recent award-winning book is Pledging Allegiance: The Politics of Patriotism in America’s Schools (foreword by the late Howard Zinn). He is also author of the critically acclaimed Among Schoolteachers: Community, Autonomy and Ideology in Teachers’ Work. He’s currently working on his third book, Restoring the Public in Public Education. Westheimer grew up in New York City where he was also a public school teacher. Before moving to Ottawa, he taught at Stanford University and at New York University.

Joseph Wilson

Education Cluster, MaRS Discover District

Joseph is an education advisor at MaRS Discovery District and is the Executive Director of the Treehouse Group, dedicated to fostering innovation by hosting cross-disciplinary events. He works directly advising K-12 education entrepreneurs in the Information technology, Communications and Entertainment group.  He also helped develop the Entrepreneur’s Toolkit Workshop Series, and consults on a wide range of educational programming. He writes on issues of technology and culture for NOW Magazine, The Globe and Mail, Spacing and Yonge Street. He has edited two books and written academic papers in astronomy, education, entrepreneurship and innovation strategies.  He has also appeared on CityTV, the Space Network, CBC, CTV and Talk TV to communicate science and technology topics to the general public.