Back to School Summit
15 - 17 Sept 2026
September 15, 2026
New York City
,
United States of America

Speakers

Back to School Summit

Meet the voices behind the Back to School Summit 2026.

Our distinguished speaker line-up

George Kane
Founder, CapitalizEd
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Noah Sudow
Senior Vice President, Whiteboard Advisors
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Douglas Proctor PhD
Assistant Vice-President, Global, York University
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Antoinette Farmer-Thompson, DHEd
President, Strayer University
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Dr Ann Kirschner
CEO, Comma Communications
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Dr Bridget Burns
CEO, University Innovation Alliance (UIA)
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Brad Wolverton
Editor, The Chronicle of Higher Education
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Miriam Altman-Reyes
Founding Managing Partner, Brass Ring Ventures
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Dr Kemi Jona
Vice Provost for Online Education & Digital Innovation, University of Virginia
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Prof Jerry Wind
Lauder Professor Emeritus, Professor Marketing, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
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Dr Lisa Vollendorf
President, Empire State University
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Lee Bradshaw
CEO, Rhodes Advisors
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Jeff Selingo
Author, Simon & Schuster, and Special Advisor, Arizona State University
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Philip Moyer
President and CEO, McGraw Hill
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Carl Madi
Co-Founder and CEO, Stepful
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Erin Mote
CEO, InnovateEDU
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Jeff Silber
Senior analyst, BMO Capital Markets Equity Research
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Raffaele Oriani
Dean, Luiss Business School
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Dr Ngozi Taffe
Associate Vice President for Global Affairs, University of Connecticut (UConn)
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Dr Cappy Hill
Senior Advisor, Ithaka S+R
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Michelle Sobel
President, Unify America
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Stacy Caldwell
CEO, CredLens
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Kelsey Behringer
CEO, Packback
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Amit Patel
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Owl Ventures
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Martin Serrano
QS Product Director, Skills & Labor Markets
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Alejandro Caballero
Principal Education Specialist, IFC The World Bank Group
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Kalpen Trivedi
Senior Vice Provost for Global Affairs, University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Dr Jill Buban
Workforce Education and Online Learning Leader
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Wil del Pilar
Senior Vice President, EdTrust
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Prof Jun Liu
Rector, City University of Macau
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Ben Webb
QS Executive Director, Americas
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Tracey Burns
Chief, Global Strategy and Research, National Center on Education and the Economy
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Greg Morrisett
Dean and Vice Provost, Cornell Tech
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John Soleanicov
Investment Director, EdTechnical Ventures
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John Garcia
Executive Director of the Pathways Impact Fund, StriveTogether
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Amanda Winters
Executive Director, Workforce, US Chamber of Commerce Foundation
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Bronagh Friel
Head of Partnerships, Grow with Google
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Jaden Bernard
Strategic Initiatives Coordinator, UVA Online Education and Digital Innovation
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Chike Aguh
Head of Innovation and Strategy, Gap Closing Startups at Kapor Center
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Ted Eismeier
Senior Vice President and Head of Postsecondary Communications, Whiteboard Advisors
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Susan Youngblood
Operating Advisor on AI and Workforce Strategy, Bessemer Venture Partners
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Gabrielle Gannon
Associate Dean, Columbia University
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Patrick Brothers
QS Board Member and Executive Director
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Corey Mohn
President and Executive Director, CAPS Network
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Marlise Lucas
Student, University of Virginia
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Sergio Abramovich
CEO, Scala Learning
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Doug Lynch
Professor, University of Southern California
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Daniel Pianko
Managing Director, Achieve Partners
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Donald E. Hall
Provost, Binghampton University
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Patrick O'Donnell
CEO, Ridgeline
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Francesco Fioretto
Director of Research, Education & Academics, Istituto Marangoni Group
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Jitin Sethi
Partner and Lead of the U.S. Education Practice, L.E.K. Consulting
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Donatella Solda
Director, Future Education Institute
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Terence Lau
Dean and Professor of Law, Syracuse University College of Law
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Goldie Blumenstyk
Editor-at-large, Open Campus Media
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Daniel Dillon Jr.
Senior Vice President of Business Development, Syracuse University
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Mike Bell
Chief Marketing Officer, Everspring
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Mushtaq Gunja
Executive Director; Senior Vice President, Carnegie Classification Systems; American Council on Education
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Lauren Asher
Managing Director for Postsecondary Strategy and Innovation, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
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Dr. Tonya Smith-Jackson
Chancellor, Rutgers University–Newark
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Dr Maria Spies
QS Chief Innovation Officer
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Alicia M. Alvero
Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost, City University of New York (CUNY)
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Dr Daniel H. Katz
Director, BMCC Office of Global Initiatives/Office of Diplomatic Engagement and Training, Borough of Manhattan Community College
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Jason Schupbach
President, Fashion Institute of Technology
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Nunzio Quacquarelli
QS President & Chair of the Board
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Lydia Logan
Vice President for Global Education and Workforce Development, IBM
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Dr Julia Spears
Assistant Provost for Online Education and Certification, Marshall University
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Juliette Norrmen-Smith
Innovation Specialist, UNICEF
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Angie Besendorfer, Ed.D.
Chief Learner Experience and Success Officer, University of Maryland Global Campus
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Ambassador Binaya Srikanta Pradhan
Consul General, Consulate General of India, New York
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Anne D’Alleva
President, Binghamton University
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Dr Tom Ritchie
Reader and Director, Student Experience, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick
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Kyle Gunnels
Founder, SINA Comms
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David Hernandez
Vice President of Education, Global Electronics Association
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Julie Kreiss
Senior Director, Britebound
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Eric Bing
Chancellor and CEO, College of Health Care Professions (CHCP)
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José Esteves
Dean and President, Porto Business School
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Dr Ashwin Fernandes
Chair, QS India and Vice President, Strategic and International Engagement
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Atin Batra
Director, Pearson Ventures
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Jill Barshay
Journalist, The Hechinger Report
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Anurapa Ganguly
Founder & CEO, Prisms
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Christopher Connor
Vice Provost for Enrollment Management, University at Buffalo
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Carl Lejuez
Executive Vice President and Provost, Stony Brook University
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Thomas Beyer
Executive Director, Master of Science in Business Analytics Program, Rady School of Management, UCSD
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Dr Drhruv Galgotia
CEO, Galgotias Education Group
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Jean Hammond
General Partner, Learn Launch
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Prof Sherine Farouk
Assistant Chancellor for Global Partnerships and Impact, Abu Dhabi University
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Jonathan Noble
Senior Assistant Provost for Internationalisation; Global Executive Director; Teaching Professor, University of Notre Dame
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London
Dr Helen Kelly
QS Principal Consultant
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David Noah
Founding Principal & Executive Director, Comp Sci High
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