Michael Fullan is Professor Emeritus of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Recognized as a worldwide authority on educational reform, Michael is engaged in training, consulting, and evaluating change projects around the world and his books have been published in many languages.

Michael Fullan is currently Special Advisor to the Premier and Minister of Education in Ontario. His book, Leading in a Culture of Change was awarded the 2002 Book of the Year Award by the National Staff Development Council and Breakthrough (with Peter Hill and Carmel Crévola) won the 2006 Book of the Year Award from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

Michael’s recent book with Geoff Scott, Turnaround Leadership for Higher Education, reveals how campus leaders can proactively meet the challenges and expectations facing their institutions. They show how certain leadership capabilities and change-capable cultures in higher education institutions must mirror each other—for the benefit of students and their futures, and for the academy and society. The authors draw on a solid knowledge base of change, which advocates for stimulating and integrating strong moral purpose and equally strong partnerships and relationships inside and outside the academy.The Six Secrets of Change (2008)

A list of his books, articles and other resources can be found at http://www.michaelfullan.ca/  

As Deputy Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education, Glenn Cummings manages a $1.9 billion annual investment in federal grants and programs that support adult education and literacy, career and technical education, and community colleges.  Cummings is former Speaker of the House in the Maine House of Representatives where he provided leadership for the passage of a bi-partisan state budget; brokered an agreement on the largest economic investment bond package in the state’s history and successfully led an effort to increase higher education appropriations.  During his tenure he sponsored and passed one of the strongest anti-predatory lending bills in the nation. While in the legislature, Cummings also served as Majority Leader and as the House Chair on the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs. 

A passionate educator, Cummings has spent much of his career working with students in the classroom and working on education policy as a state leader.  Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Education, Cummings served as instructor of micro and macroeconomics at University of Southern Maine and as Dean of Institutional Advancement at Southern Maine Community College (SMCC).  While at SMCC, he founded one of the first student-centered entrepreneurial centers and small business incubators in Northern New England.  Cummings also served as Executive Director of the Portland Partnership where he built strategic alliances between businesses and high school students.  A multi-generation Maine native, Cummings began his career as a high school history teacher and department head.

Cummings is pursuing his Doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania and has previously earned a Masters of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, a Masters of Arts in Teaching from Brown University and a Bachelor of Arts from Ohio Wesleyan University.

View the presentation: We Can Achieve:Graduate America

George R. Boggs is president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) based in Washington, DC. Dr. Boggs previously served as faculty member, division chair, and associate dean of instruction at Butte College in California, and for 15 years he served as the superintendent/president of Palomar College in California. He served as a member of the Committee on Undergraduate Science Education of the National Research Council and has served on several National Science Foundation panels and committees. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from The Ohio State University, a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and a PhD in educational administration from The University of Texas at Austin.