Larry Smith

Innovation: Monday June 15th, 2009
"Why Innovation is Becoming Urgent for Educational Institutions"

Larry Smith is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Waterloo. He is Recipient of the University of Waterloo’s Distinguished Teacher Award.

Larry is also President of Essential Economics Corporation, an economic consulting practice that serves a wide range of public and private clients. The firm specializes in forecasting and in the economics of innovation and development.

He is the author of Beyond the Internet: How Expert Systems Will Truly Transform Business.

Larry advises UW students who start their own ventures and he has now taught more than ten percent of the university’s alumni. In the Winter 2007 term he assigned his 25,000th grade, representing almost 18,000 individuals.

Dean Roger Martin

Integration: Tuesday June 16th, 2009
"Integrative Thinking and the Opposable Mind"

Roger Martin is dean of the Rotman School of Management. He was appointed to a seven-year term beginning in September 1998 and re-appointed to a further five- year term effective July 2005. He is also a professor of strategic management at the Rotman School.

A Canadian from Wallenstein, Ontario, Roger was formerly a director of Monitor Company, a global strategy consulting firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During his 13 years with Monitor, he founded and chaired Monitor University, the firm’s educational arm, served as co-head of the firm for two years, and founded the Canadian office.

His research interests lie in the areas of global competitiveness, integrative thinking, business design and corporate citizenship. Roger’s new book The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking was released in December 2007.

Corey A. Goldman

Intelligence: Wednesday June 17th, 2009
"Learning Communities"

Corey is the Associate Chair (Undergraduate) for the Faculty of Arts and Science's new department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. Corey has influenced both students and teaching assistants. For undergraduate life science students, Corey created BIOME, an online meeting place which facilitates peer-to-peer exchanges about courses and provides links to important resources. His new initiative is the First-Year Learning Communities program, which helps entering students make a meaningful connection to their university.

Corey is a recipient of the Faculty of Arts and Science's Outstanding Teaching Award and a multiple-recipient of the Dean's Excellence Award. In 2005, Corey received the U of T Alumni Association's Joan E. Foley Quality of Student Experience Award, in recognition of his "significant contributions to improving the quality of student life on campus”, and The Learning Partnership's National Technology Innovation Award for BIOME, which recognizes the achievements of educators of publicly funded schools, colleges, and universities whose innovative approach has been instrumental in building modern learning environments for students."

In 2007, Corey received the University of Toronto's highest teaching honour, the President's Teaching Award, awarded to faculty for their "career commitment to teaching excellence". Corey also was an inaugural recipient of the Province of Ontario's new Leadership in Faculty Teaching (LIFT) Award, awarded to 100 Ontario college and university faculty who "influence, motivate, and inspire students and demonstrate leadership in teaching methods for the diverse student body in Ontario."

Lisa Glithero

Farewell Luncheon: Wednesday June 17th, 2009
"Inspiring a New Generation"

Lisa (Diz) Glithero is a committed environmental educator. Her formal teaching experience has taken her from Chhomrong, Nepal to the Heiltsuk community of Bella Bella, British Columbia to working as the Education Director for Students on Ice, a Canadian organization that takes international youth on educational expeditions to Antarctica and the Arctic.

In 2004, after completing a Master of Education degree at Queen's University while working for the Outdoor Experiential Education program at the faculty, she founded the EYES Project.

Her accomplishments have earned her notable recognition in the media. In March 2006, Glithero was 1 of 24 international women to be awarded the "Women of the Earth Award" for her work in environmental education. She has been featured in several Canadian magazines including Canadian Living, Elle Canada, Ottawa City Woman, and Coupe de Pouce. Currently, Glithero is a PT Professor with the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa and is the Project Manager for an innovative Green Community Development Project in Chelsea, Quebec.

Through sharing her unique experiences and stories as an environmental educator over the past decade, Glithero has motivated thousands of students and educators to understand the urgency of bringing a sustainability imperative into educational pedagogy and practice.

Lisa's talk is entitled "Inspiring a New Generation". Higher education institutions serve as profound learning communities from which to propel the next generation forward. We live in a complex, rapidly changing, unpredictable world. We have, or rather are learning, that our current path is not sustainable. Societal transformation is upon us. A new generation that embraces, adapts and drives such change is needed; a generation that believes in cooperation and collaboration; a generation that questions, thinks critically; a generation that understands the interconnectedness between humans and the natural world; a generation that values social well-being and civic engagement; a generation that recognizes their own agency. As architects of these communities, how do we work together to foster such a generation?