Plenary Sessions

Cathy Davidson is an author, educator, and higher education leader whose work focuses on technology, learning, and institutional transformation. She cofounded the Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory (HASTAC) and previously served in senior academic leadership roles at Duke University and the City University of New York. Her books include The New Education (2017) and The New College Classroom (2022), both recipients of AAC&U’s Frederic W. Ness Book Prize. In 2025, she received the Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Higher Education in recognition of her contributions to advancing learning and educational innovation.

Laurie Patton is an academic leader and scholar whose career spans higher education leadership, research, and the humanities. She previously served as president of Middlebury College from 2015 to 2025 and held academic leadership positions at Duke University and Emory University. A scholar of South Asian history, culture, and religion, she is the author or editor of twelve scholarly books and three books of poetry and has translated The Bhagavad Gita for Penguin Classics. Patton earned her bachelor's degree from Harvard University and her doctorate from the University of Chicago, and served as president of the American Academy of Religion in 2019.

Paul J. LeBlanc is a visiting professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education and a higher education leader known for advancing innovation, access, and student success. He served as president of Southern New Hampshire University from 2003 to 2024, overseeing its growth from 2,800 to more than 250,000 students, and previously co-founded Matter and Space, an organization focused on AI and education. His contributions to higher education have earned numerous honors, including the Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence in Higher Education and the Zemsky Medal for Innovation in Higher Education. LeBlanc is the author of Students First: Equity, Access, and Opportunity in Higher Education (2021), Broken: How Our Social Systems Are Failing Us and How We Can Fix Them (2022), and Reclaiming Purpose: The University in an AI World (2026).

Cathy Davidson is an author, educator, and higher education leader whose work focuses on technology, learning, and institutional transformation. She cofounded the Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory (HASTAC) and previously served in senior academic leadership roles at Duke University and the City University of New York. Her books include The New Education (2017) and The New College Classroom (2022), both recipients of AAC&U’s Frederic W. Ness Book Prize. In 2025, she received the Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Higher Education in recognition of her contributions to advancing learning and educational innovation.

Claude M. Steele is a social psychologist and professor emeritus at Stanford University whose research focuses on stereotype threat, self-affirmation, and their implications for academic performance. He is the author of Whistling Vivaldi and Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us (2010), which examines how stereotypes influence identity, behavior, and achievement. Steele has held senior academic leadership positions at Stanford University, Columbia University, and the University of California, Berkeley. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Education, among other distinguished organizations.

Lynn Pasquerella is a philosopher and higher education leader whose work focuses on liberal education, civic engagement, public trust, and the democratic purposes of higher education. She previously served as president of Mount Holyoke College and held senior academic leadership positions at the University of Hartford and the University of Rhode Island. She is the author of What We Value: Public Health, Social Justice, and Educating for Democracy (2022), a past president of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and host of Northeast Public Radio’s The Academic Minute. In 2026, Pasquerella was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and received the Ernest L. Boyer Award.

Jessica Riddell is a professor, higher education leader, and founder of the Hope Circuits Institute. She is the author of Hope Circuits: Rewiring Universities for Human Flourishing (2024) and co-author of Shakespeare’s Guide to Hope, Life, and Learning (2023). Her work focuses on reimagining universities as public institutions that advance human and ecological flourishing. She has received national recognition for her contributions to teaching and the humanities, including a 3M National Teaching Fellowship and election to the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars.