Speakers
PLENARY SPEAKERS
Jorge Castañeda Gutman is the former Secretary of Foreign Affairs for Mexico, professor, author, and politician. Castañeda received a French Baccalauréat from the Lycée Franco-Mexicain in Mexico City and his B.A. from Princeton University and a Ph.D. from the University of Paris I (Panthéon-La Sorbonne). He was a professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University, New York University, and the University of Cambridge. He has authored more than a dozen books, including a biography of Che Guevara and a readable assessment of politics, Utopia Unarmed: The Latin American Left After the Cold War (Vintage Books, 1993). Dr. Castañeda was a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1985-87), and was a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research and Writing Grant Recipient (1989-1991). Dr. Castañeda is a regular columnist for the Mexican daily Reforma, The Los Angeles Times, and Newsweek International.
Robert D. Kaplan writes regularly for The Atlantic Monthly and has reported on assignment for the magazine from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and the United States. His books include Imperial Grunts (2005), The Coming Anarchy: Shattering the Dreams of the Post Cold War (2000), An Empire Wilderness: Travels Into America’s Future (1998), and Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History (1993).
Besides The Atlantic Monthly, Kaplan’s essays have appeared on the editorial pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. He has reported from nearly 80 countries. In 2002, he was awarded the State Department's “Distinguished Public Service Award for outstanding contributions to international affairs.”
Scott McNealy is founder and chairman of Sun Microsystems, the world’s leading provider of UNIX workstations, servers, and related software and hardware technologies based on open, distributed, network computing. Before he assumed the position of chairman in April 2006, McNealy was the company’s CEO for 22 years. McNealy has become an industry spokesman for open computer systems and a chief proponent of client-server, peer computing. A current interest is the promotion and development of the curriki.org ngo.
David Rothkopf is a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is the president and CEO of Garten Rothkopf, an international advisory firm specializing in emerging markets investing and risk management related services. Mr. Rothkopf was the Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Policy in the Clinton Administration after he acted as CEO of International Media Partners. He currently serves as Chairman of the National Strategic Investment Dialogue and as a member of the advisory boards of the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Johns Hopkins/Bloomberg School of Public Health. Mr. Rothkopf has also authored over 150 articles on international themes and is the author of the book Running the World: The Inside Story of the NSC and the Architects of American Power.
ROUNDTABLE SPEAKERS
International University Competitiveness Roundtable Participants
Michael Daxner is professor of sociology and president emeritus of the University of Oldenburg, Germany. Since 2003, Dr. Daxner has served on an advisory mission to the Minister of Higher Education in Afghanistan. From 2000 to 2002, he served as the principal international officer for the Ministry of Education in Kosovo, and in 2002 became special counselor to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo. Dr. Daxner served as the German delegate to the Council of Europe Committee on Higher Education and Research in 1994 and on the board of the European University Association from 1998 to 2001. He was member of the Council of Austrian Universities until 2003, is currently a member of the board of the Heinrich Boell Academy, and has been treasurer of the International Association of University Presidents since 1999.
William Delahunt has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing the 10th District of Massachusetts. He served a term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1973–75) before serving as a district attorney of Norfolk County for more than 20 years. Mr. Delahunt is a member of the International Relations Committee; Judiciary Committee; and also serves as co-chair of the bipartisan Coast Guard Caucus, House Older Americans Caucus, and the Congressional Working Group on Cuba. In the 110th Congress, he also serves as Chairman of the Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee of the International Relations Committee.
Hassan Nadir Khairallah is the President of Alexandria University in Egypt and a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. He was the Dean of Faculty of Engineering, Beirut Arab University from 1997 till 1999 and the Project Management Unit Director from 2003 till 2006. At Alexandria University, he was the director of the Electrical Scientific Society from 1981 till 1995, the Supervisor of the Microwaves Lab from 1981 till 2006, and the Executive Director of the Project Management Unit at Alexandria University from 2003 until 2006. Dr Kheirallah was a Board member and then treasurer of the Arab Network for Staff Development from 1990 till 1995, conducting a study on the professional development of teaching staff at Arab universities that was presented to the 6th conference of the Arab Ministers of Higher Education and Academic Research in Alger, in 1995.
Meredith McQuaid is associate vice president and dean of international programs for the University of Minnesota system, where she promotes the global dimensions of teaching, research, and engagement across all colleges and campuses of the University. Prior to her role as dean, McQuaid served as associate dean for international programs in the U of M Law School. She holds an adjunct faculty position and teaches Introduction to American Law and Legal Research and Writing for Foreign Lawyers. She created and supervised the Judicial Observation Program for Foreign Lawyers, unique in U.S. law schools. Before entering academia, she practiced immigration and civil litigation law in Minneapolis. Active in the American Association of Law Schools, McQuaid is immediate past-Chair of the Section for Graduate Programs for Foreign Lawyers. She has also served on several selection committees for prestigious international fellowships, including the USIA Edmund Muskie Scholars Program.
Jairam Reddy , a citizen of South Africa and holds the degrees from the University of Manitoba, Canada and the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. He has held academic positions at the Universities of London, Temple and Washington, Western Cape and Durban-Westville. He was Vice -Chancellor of the University of Durban Westville from 1990-94. Dr. Reddy has lectured widely and is the author of numerous articles published in local and international journals and has presented over fifty papers in various congresses. In January 1995 he was appointed to chair the National Commission on Higher Education of South Africa. The University of the Western Cape, Birmingham University and the Open University in England conferred Honorary Doctorates on him. He was appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations to serve on the Council of the United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan for the period 1998-2004. Dr. Reddy is currently Director of the United Nations University International Leadership Institute, Amman, Jordan.
Olin C. Robison (Moderator) is president emeritus of Middlebury College, U.S.A. and former president of the Salzburg Global Seminar. Olin Robison worked as a Peace Corps administrator and with the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. He held academic and administrative posts at Bowdoin and Wesleyan before assuming the presidency of Middlebury. He advised both Democratic and Republican administrations on U.S.-Soviet relations, and has served on and chaired numerous commissions and task forces, including the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. In 1991, Robison was named president of the Salzburg Seminar, based in Salzburg, Austria, and in Middlebury, a leading forum for promoting global dialogue on issues of pressing international concern. He retired from that position in 2005.
Educating the NextGen Roundtable Participants
Tom Benson is the Executive Director of the World Leadership Corps. He was a founder and the first chairman of the ASIANetwork, a North American consortium of liberal arts institutions. Currently, he serves as the founding chairman of the AFRICANetwork. He is also a board member of the Myanmar Foundation, the Japan ICU Foundation, and iEARN-US. Dr. Benson was a faculty member at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is the President Emeritus of Green Mountain College in Vermont, USA. Dr. Benson has published papers in the fields of international education, the humanities, and ethics and public policy.
Gordon Freedman is the strategy Vice President for Blackboard, Inc. Freedman has worked extensively within higher education and K12 education corporations, institutions, foundations, and with the textbook industry. Freedman joined Blackboard from his consulting company, Knowledge Base, LLC, a respected provider of expert advice for transforming education through the use of e-Learning, media, and enterprise technology. Freedman has an expertise in state-funded virtual education in K12, university-K12 partnerships, online learning in higher education, and digital textbooks. Prior to his work in education, Freedman was an executive producer of film and television in Los Angeles and a news producer for ABC News in Washington, D.C.
Phil Geier (Moderator) is executive director of the Davis United World Scholars Program. He served as president of the United World Colleges- USA from 1994 until 2005. Dr. Geier has taught history and American studies at many institutions, including Syracuse University and the University of Paris. The recipient of two Fulbright awards, he serves as co-chairman of the board of Pine Manor College and on the Fulbright Prize Committee Association. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Allan Goodman is president of the Institute of International Education (IIE). IIE administers the Fulbright program, sponsored by the United States Department of State, and 200 other corporate, government and privately-sponsored programs. Previously, he was Executive Dean of the School of Foreign Service and Professor at Georgetown University. He is the author of books on international affairs published by Harvard, Princeton, Yale University Presses and the American Council on Education. Dr. Goodman also served as Presidential Briefing Coordinator for the Director of Central Intelligence and as Special Assistant to the Director of the National Foreign Assessment Center in the Carter Administration. Dr. Goodman also helped create the first U.S. academic exchange program with the Moscow Diplomatic Academy and developed the diplomatic training program of the Foreign Ministry of Vietnam. Dr. Goodman holds honorary doctorates from Toyota University, Mount Ida College, Ramapo College and The State University of New York. Dr. Goodman was awarded the title “Chevalier” of the French Legion of Honour on April 23, 2007.
Pierre-François Mourier,Consul General of France in San Francisco, is a graduate of the “Ecole normale supérieure” in Paris. He obtained his teaching degree (the “Agrégation”) in the Classics, and went on to further his studies at the Sorbonne, specializing in late Latin civilization. Appointed in 2002 as a member of the Conseil d’Etat, Pierre-François Mourier was in charge of matters relative to secondary and higher education and research. He then worked from 2004 to 2005 with François Fillon, then Minister of Education, on reforming the French national research system. Finally, as of 2005, he joined the staff of the President of the Republic where he was in succession senior adviser for studies and speeches, then senior adviser for education and culture. Pierre-François Mourier is the author of several essays: NormaleS Sup’, des elites pour quoi faire? (Editions de l’Aube, 1994); Cicéron, l’avocat et la République (Michalon, 1996); Balzac, l’injustice de la loi (Michalon, 1997); Le Parlement européen à Strasbourg (L’Imprimeur, 2000); Les Cicatrices du paysage, essai d’écologie scientifique (Actes Sud, December, 2000). In 2005 he published a first novel, La Spore, with the Editions de la Table ronde.
Leon E. Panetta currently co-directs the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, based at California State University, Monterey Bay, a non-partisan study center for the advancement of public policy. He serves as distinguished scholar to the chancellor of the California State University system, teaches a Master's in Public Policy course at the Panetta Institute, is a presidential professor at Santa Clara University, and created the Leon Panetta Lecture Series. Panetta was appointed chief of staff to the president in 1994, and served in that position until 1997. He served as director of the Office of Management and Budget for the Clinton Administration from 1993 to 1994. Panetta was a U.S. representative from California's 16th (now 17th) district from 1977 to 1993. He served as chairman of the House Committee on the Budget and chaired several House Subcommittees He was vice chairman of the Caucus of Vietnam Era Veterans in Congress and a member of the president's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies. Panetta previously practiced law in the Monterey firm of Panetta, Thompson & Panetta, and was executive assistant to the mayor of New York City, special assistant to the secretary of health, education and welfare, and director of the U.S. Office for Civil Rights.
Open Space Technology Facilitator
Lisa Heft is an internationally renowned facilitator known for engaging groups in reflection, learning and interchange. Whether consulting on conflict resolution processes for teams working in Northern Iraq and East Timor, engaging interdisciplinary thinking between housekeepers, hospitality managers and CEOs for the future of a luxury resort facility, teaching interactive learning methods to health monitoring specialists
from developing nations, or facilitating learning and dialogue with prison inmates -- Ms. Heft is known for her thoughtful design, clarity of communication and ability to bring diverse people together in dialogue.
Clients on 5 continents include the International AIDS Conferences, U.S. Departments of Labor and Transportation, National Forum for Geosciences Information Technology, U.S. Scholar-Athlete Games, Canadian Council for Tobacco Control, International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent
Societies, Heifer International, and the Columbia University Center for International Conflict Resolution (with whom Ms. Heft is a Fellow). Ms. Heft is Vice President of the U.S. Open Space Institute and chapter author
for ‘Beyond Bullets and Bombs: Grassroots Peace Building between Israelis and Palestinians’.
