Dr Pedro Noguera
Expert in K-12 education policy, sociology, and urban education.
Dr Pedro Noguera is one of the nation’s leading scholars on issues related to racial inequality and policy aimed at improving education for all. Prior to coming to USC to serve as the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean of the Rossier School of Education, he served as a Professor of Education and holder of endowed chairs at UCLA, NYU, Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of 15 books. His most recent book, A Search for Common Ground: Conversations About the Tough Questions and Complex Issues Confronting K-12 Education in the United States Today, with Rick Hess, was the winner of the American Association of Publishers Prose Award in 2021.
Noguera has served as an advisor to several states, school districts, foundations and nonprofits. In 2022, he was appointed to the President’s National Commission on Equity and Excellence in Education for Hispanics. In 2014 he was elected to the National Academy of Education and Phi Delta Kappa honor society, and in 2020 Noguera was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Noguera has received eight honorary doctorates from American universities, and received awards from the Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and from the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at NYU for his research and advocacy efforts aimed at fighting poverty. In 2023, he was ranked 1st in the nation for influence and impact in the field of education by Education Week.
Dr Ulcca Joshi Hansen
Keynote: The Future of Smart: Restoring Balance in How We Know and Learn
Dr Ulcca Joshi Hansen, a futurist and author of the award-winning book, The Future of Smart, explores how questioning some of our default ways of understanding the world may be the key to addressing today's complex challenges. She invites us to explore how balancing analytical frameworks with intuitive ways of knowing can strengthen human connection during periods of rapid change.
Growing up as a Third Culture Kid (look it up!), navigating multiple worldviews, Dr Hansen brings a naturally integrative perspective to her work. She started her career as a public school educator before earning a doctorate from Oxford University in philosophy, neuroscience and human development, and a law degree from Harvard Law School. Her contributions to public service, research and innovation have been recognized through her selection as a Harry S. Truman Scholar, a British Marshall Scholar, and a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow.
Drawing from her experiences as a TEDx speaker, an Op-Ed Project Fellow, and a contributor to conversations on NPR, The Washington Post, and at COP26, Dr. Hansen partners with individuals and organizations committed to building more human-entered organizations and restoring balance in our approaches to learning and problem-solving—integrating the precision of analytical thinking with the depth of relational understanding that has always been part of our shared human heritage.
Dr Gloria Mark
Keynote: Attention Span: A Groundbreaking way to Restore Balance, Wellbeing and Productivity in the Digital Age
Dr Gloria Mark is Chancellor’s Professor of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. She has also been a visiting senior researcher at Microsoft Research since 2012. She received her PhD from Columbia University in psychology. Her research concerns understanding the impact of digital media on people's lives, and she is best known for her work in studying people's attention behavior while using their computers and phones in real-world environments.
In 2017, she was inducted into the ACM SIGCHI Academy in recognition of her contribution to the field of human-computer interaction. She has published in the top journals and conferences in this field, has received numerous paper awards, and serves on editorial boards of top journals in the field. She has been a Fulbright scholar and has received the National Science Foundation Career grant. She has been invited to present her work at SXSW and the Aspen Ideas Festival, and her work on multitasking has appeared often in the popular media, e.g., New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Atlantic, the BBC and many others. Her book, Attention Span, was published in January 2023 by Hanover Square Press.
