Featured Speakers
Opening General Session
Bruce Weinstein
Monday, April 13, 5:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.
Bruce Weinstein, Ph.D., The Ethics Guy®, has a simple purpose in life: he wants to enrich your appreciation of ethics in everyday life and to help you make the best decisions possible. He writes the column, "Ask the Ethics Guy," for BusinessWeek.com.
Dr. Weinstein appears as an ethics analyst regularly on CNN and has also appeared on NBC's "Today Show," ABC's "Good Morning America," MSNBC's "Live," FOX Business Network's "Cavuto," FOX News Channel's "O'Reilly Factor" and "Fox & Friends," CNBC's "Capital Report," Bloomberg Television's "Personal Finance," and NPR's "Leonard Lopate Show."
Dr. Weinstein is the author or editor of five books on ethics. His writings have appeared in, and he has been quoted or featured in USA Today, The New York Observer, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Investor's Business Daily, Family Circle, Real Simple, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the in-flight magazines of American Airlines, Delta Airlines, USAirways, and United Airlines, as well as Newsweek.com, CNN.com, and FoxNews.com. His latest book is Life Principles: Feeling Good by Doing Good (Emmis Books).
He received a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from Swarthmore College, a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Bioethics from Georgetown University, a certificate in Film Production from New York University, and a National Fellowship from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan. In 2009, Macmillan will publish his next book, Is It Still Cheating If I Don't Get Caught? Practical Answers to Life's Tricky Questions from The Ethics Guy®, which will focus on ethical issues for teens.
Closing General Session
E. Gordon Gee
Thursday, April 16, 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
E Gordon Gee, among the most highly experienced and respected university presidents in the nation, returned to The Ohio State University after having served as Chancellor of Vanderbilt University for seven years. Prior to his tenure at Vanderbilt, he was president of Brown University (1998-2000), The Ohio State University (1990-97), the University of Colorado (1985-90), and West Virginia University (1981-85).
Born in Vernal, Utah, Gee graduated from the University of Utah with an honors degree in history and earned his J.D. and Ed.D degrees from Columbia University. He clerked under Chief Justice David T. Lewis of the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals before being named a judicial fellow and staff assistant to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he worked for Chief Justice Warren Burger on administrative and legal problems of the Court and federal judiciary. Gee returned to Utah as an associate professor and associate dean in the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, eventually achieving the rank of full professor. In 1979 he was named dean of the West Virginia University Law School, and in 1981 was appointed to that university's presidency.
Active in a number of national professional and service organizations, Gee served as a Trustee for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation and as chairman of the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land Grant Universities. He is a member of the National Commission on Writing for America's Families, Schools, and Colleges, founded by the College Board to improve the teaching and learning of writing. He also serves on the NCAA Presidential Taskforce on the Future of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Gee is a member of the Board of Governors of the National Hospice Foundation, the Advisory Board of the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, and the Board of Trustees of the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation, an independent Federal government agency established to "encourage and support research, study and labor designed to produce new discoveries in all fields of endeavor for the benefit of mankind." He also is a member of the Business-Higher Education Forum.
Gee has received a number of honorary degrees, awards, and recognitions. He was a Mellon Fellow for the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies and a W.K. Kellogg Fellow. In 1994, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Utah as well as from Teachers College of Columbia University. He is the co-author of eight books and the author of numerous papers and articles on law and education.
General Session Presenter
Saul Geiser
Wednesday, April 15, 2:30 p.m. -3:30 p.m.
Saul Geiser (Ph.D., sociology, University of California, Berkeley) is a research associate at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at UC, Berkeley. He served as director of admissions research for the UC system until 2003, in the aftermath of California's vote to end affirmative action in 1996. Geiser's research has contributed to numerous initiatives in UC admissions, including UC's policy on Eligibility in the Local Context, which makes eligible the top four percent of graduates from each high school in California. His research on the predictive validity of achievement tests was influential in the College Board's recent move to revise the SAT I in the direction of a more curriculum-based test. In addition to admissions research, Geiser has directed the statewide evaluation of UC's outreach programs to disadvantaged students and schools throughout California.
Cultural Diversity Luncheon Presenter
Charles Middleton
Tuesday, April 14, 12:00 p.m. -1:30 p.m.
Charles R. "Chuck" Middleton has served as the fifth President of Roosevelt University since July 2002. Roosevelt is a national leader in educating socially conscious citizens for active and dedicated lives as leaders in their professions and their communities.
As President of Roosevelt University, Dr. Middleton heads one of the nation's most diverse universities. According to a 2006 study in the New York Times on diversity of undergraduate students, Roosevelt University ranks 10th nationally in private institutions. Roosevelt's 7,200 students take courses in arts and sciences, business administration, education and performing arts at comprehensive campuses in the Chicago Loop and northwest suburban Schaumburg. The University also owns the Auditorium Theatre, one of the most famous theaters in the world.
Dr. Middleton has been a university professor or administrator for 39 years. Prior to joining Roosevelt, he was vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University System of Maryland, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs at Bowling Green State University and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
A fellow of Great Britain's Royal Historical Society, Dr. Middleton's academic expertise is in modern British history from the late 18th Century to the early 19th Century and he has an interest in the history of sport in America. He has taught more than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students, written more than 60 scholarly papers and is the author of the book The Administration of British Foreign Policy, 1782-1846.
Dr. Middleton earned an AB degree with honors in history from Florida State University and both an M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Duke University.
Dr. Middleton is active in educational and community organizations. He is a fellow of the Institute for International Education (Midwest), on the Board of Directors of the American Council on Education (ACE) and chair of the Federation of Illinois Independent Colleges and Universities. He also serves on the boards of the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Committee, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in Hyde Park, N. Y., the Center on Halsted, the Chicago Loop Alliance, the Chicago Central Area Committee, the Near South Planning Board, the Point Foundation, and the Chicago History Museum Community Advisory Council for "Out at CHM." He is a member of Rotary One, the Economic Club and the Executives Club.
In November 2006, Dr. Middleton was elected to the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame, along side Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.
General Session Presenter
Terry Hartle
Tuesday, April 14, 2:45 p.m. -3:45 p.m.
For more than a decade, Terry W. Hartle has directed ACE's comprehensive effort to engage federal policy makers on a broad range of issues including student aid, scientific research, government regulation, and tax policy. This work not only involves representation before the U.S. Congress, administrative agencies, and the federal courts, it increasingly includes work on state and local issues of national impact. Given ACE's historic role in coordinating the government relations efforts of some 60 associations in the Washington-based higher education community, Hartle is widely considered American higher education's most visible lobbyist.
Prior to joining the council in 1993, Hartle served for six years as education staff director for the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, then chaired by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Prior to 1987, Hartle was director of social policy studies and resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a research scientist at the Educational Testing Service. Hartle is quoted widely in both the national and international media on higher education issues, has authored or co-authored numerous articles, books, and national studies, and contributes regular book reviews to The Christian Science Monitor.
Hartle received a doctorate in public policy from The George Washington University in 1982, a master in public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University in 1974, and a bachelor's degree in history (summa cum laude) from Hiram College in 1973. He was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree by Northeastern University in 1994. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Garfield Society at Hiram College, and the Hiram College Athletic Hall of Fame.
Graduate and Professional Schools Luncheon Presenter
Robert Sowell
Tuesday, April 14, 12:00 p.m. -1:30 p.m.
Robert Sowell is currently Vice President for Programs and Operations at the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) in Washington, D.C., where he has oversight responsibility for CGS Best Practices Projects. He also serves as director of the CGS Ph.D. Completion Project, funded by Pfizer Inc and the Ford Foundation. He is Dean Emeritus of the Graduate School and Professor Emeritus of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at North Carolina State University.
Before joining CGS in August 2006, Sowell was a member of the faculty of Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at North Carolina State University for 36 years. His teaching and research focus was on the application of operations research and systems analysis techniques to biological and agricultural systems. The last 15 years of his career at NC State, Sowell served first as Associate Dean of the Graduate School and then Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies.
Sowell holds BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from Mississippi State University, Kansas State University and North Carolina State University, respectively. Upon completion of his doctoral degree he served on active duty as an operations analyst for the U.S. Air Force before pursuing his academic career. He continued his affiliation with the U.S. Air Force by serving as an Intelligence Officer in the Air Force Reserve, retiring with 34 years of service.
General Session Presenter
John Yopp
Wednesday, April 15, 2:30 p.m. -3:30 p.m.
John Yopp is Associate Provost for Educational Partnerships and International Affairs and Director of the Appalachian Mathematics and Science Partnership at the University of Kentucky. He is a member of NAFSA's International Task Force on the Bologna Process and on the Board of Directors of the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE). One of his major interests is the impact of the Bologna Process on U.S. and international graduate education. He has worked closely with the European Association for International Education and other European Associations on the Bologna Process since 2000.
John Yopp was Vice President for Graduate and Professional Education at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) from 1997 to 2003 and Vice President for Strategic Higher Education Initiatives from 2003-2004. In addition to his position at ETS, he was a Senior Visiting Scholar at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute and a Senior Scholar in Residence at the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington D.C. In these latter two positions he worked with the late Senator Paul Simon, as Project Director, to create, through legislation, a Congressional Commission to study the establishment of the Abraham Lincoln Fellowship Program for Study Abroad. His committee of high level representatives from the major international educational associations (e.g. IIE, NAFSA, Alliance) produced the Commission's briefing book.
He served as associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and Research and Dean of the Graduate School at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC) since 1986. He was also a professor of Plant Physiology at the Illinois University for 27 years.
He also served as chair of the Council on Research Policy and Graduate Education and as a member of the executive committee of the Commission on International Affairs for The National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. He was a member of the Board of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and of the executive committee of Graduate Deans for the African-American Institute. He serves or has served as a member or chair on numerous state and national boards and committees concerned with international educational issues over the past 25 years.
He received his B.S. in Biology from Georgetown University and his Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Louisville. He was a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow in biochemical adaptation to extreme environments at NASA's Ames Research Center before joining SIUC in 1970.