Speaker Series

Disruptive Innovation in Higher Education

Past speakers

Jamie Merisotis
President and CEO of Lumina Foundation

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Jamie P. Merisotis is an expert on a wide range of higher-education issues. He is president and CEO of Lumina Foundation, the nation's largest private foundation committed solely to enrolling and graduating more students from college. Long a champion of the idea that higher education enhances both society and individuals, Merisotis has worked for decades to increase educational opportunity among low-income, minority and other historically underrepresented populations.

Under his leadership, Lumina has embraced an ambitious and specific goal: to ensure that, by 2025, 60 percent of Americans hold high quality degrees and credentials—up from the current level of less than 40 percent. It is Merisotis’ aim that all of Lumina’s efforts and activities—grant making, communication, evaluation, policy advocacy and convening—work toward achieving that goal.

Watch the presentation here:

Sebastian Thrun
Director of Stanford AI Lab
Cofounder, Udacity.com

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Sebastian Thrun is working, through robotics, to change the way we understand the world. He is a professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, where he also serves as the director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab. His research focuses on robotics and artificial intelligence. He led the development of the robotic vehicle Stanley which won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, and which is exhibited in the Smithsonian. He also co-founded Udacity.com, where he taught "Introduction to Artificial Intelligence" to over 160,000 students in more than 190 countries.

Watch the presentation here:

Candace Thille Director, Open Learning Initiative, Carnegie Mellon University

Friday, Nov. 16.

Candace Thille is the Director of the Open Learning Initiative (OLI) at Carnegie Mellon University, a position she has held since the program’s inception in 2002. Candace’s focus is in applying the results from research in the science of learning to the design and evaluation of open web-based learning environments.

She has served on the working group at the U.S. Department of Education to co-author the National Education Technology Plan and on a working group of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) to write the Engage to Excel report for the Obama Administration on improving STEM in higher education.

Trouble with the player? Watch the presentation here.

About the series

This year’s Presidential Speaker Series will focus on the challenges facing higher education in an era of increased demand, changing demographics and declining state support.

Globalization and accelerating technological change require that our nation raise substantially the educational level of its citizens. To meet this objective, institutions of higher education will need to adopt new educational approaches and technologies to serve more students without increased resources while maintaining quality. The speaker series will bring nationally recognized leaders in education theory, innovation and policy to the Cal State Monterey Bay campus to discuss these emerging issues. The goal is to spark discussions -- among faculty, staff and students on our campus and among people interested in education issues from around the region -- about higher education’s value to society and how that value can be maximized in light of the current financial challenges and changing social landscape.

President Ochoa has identified a range of national leaders in higher education to bring to campus to focus on these issues.

Dr. Thille’s presentation, and those that will follow, is in keeping with Cal State Monterey Bay‘s role as a community resource, providing forums for thoughtful and provocative discussions that can impact thought and action on issues important to our community and our nation.