IMI 9th ANNUAL CONFERENCE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Cornelius M. Kerwin
President, American University
Link to Organization: http://www.american.edu
Session: Closing Plenary
Date: Friday, March 14, 2008
Time: 4:30 -5:00 p.m.
Location: Ward 2

Cornelius Kerwin became American University's fourteenth president on September 1, 2007. He had been AU's acting, then interim, president since August 2005, and served as provost from 1997 until 2005.

Dr. Kerwin is a long-standing member of the AU community. He received a BA from American University in 1971 (followed by an MA in political science from the University of Rhode Island in 1973, and a PhD in political science from Johns Hopkins University in 1978) and has been a member of the AU faculty since 1975. He has held a number of prominent leadership positions within the School of Public Affairs, including his service as dean from 1989 to 1997.

As provost, Dr. Kerwin served as the university's chief academic officer, leading approximately 475 full-time teaching faculty in AU's six schools and colleges ( College of Arts and Sciences , Kogod School of Business , School of Communication School of International Service , School of Public Affairs , and Washington College of Law ). He also supervised admissions, financial aid, the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, the University Library, the Office of the Registrar, and other offices, including the Washington Semester Program and those reporting to the Dean of Academic Affairs (General Education Program, University Honors Program, Center for Teaching Excellence, Career Center, and Office of Sponsored Programs).

He has worked with the deans and faculty committees to complete a review of AU's master's and doctoral programs, resulting in fewer programs but creating distinctive market niches, improved physical facilities, and enhanced national reputations. He also oversaw the creation of AU's University College Program (launched fall 2005), an integrated learning-living program for first-year undergraduate students. During his time as provost, the university conducted reviews of the school's General Education Program, University Honors Program, and academic advising system.

As part of the university's 15-Point Plan, Dr. Kerwin led the process for restructuring faculty governance, helping to create a new Faculty Senate, which was overwhelmingly ratified by a historic faculty vote. In 2003, he oversaw AU's decennial self-study that resulted in the Middle States Association Commission's unconditional reaccreditation and the Commission's Self-Study Institute's adoption of AU's self-study report and design as a model for other schools.

While provost, Dr. Kerwin advanced major efforts to support faculty scholarship, teaching, and service; diversify the faculty; bring faculty salaries to the AAUP–Level 1 standard; enhance technology resources and utilization; and develop comprehensive plans for assessing student learning, promoting academic integrity, and improving administrative processes.

Dr. Kerwin, a professor of public administration in the School of Public Affairs, is a nationally recognized specialist in public policy, with emphasis on the regulatory process. He is actively engaged in teaching and research and teaches courses in administrative process, policy implementation, and American government. He is the author of Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy (3rd ed., 2003, Congressional Quarterly Press) and the coauthor of How Washington Works: The Executives Guide to Government (3rd ed., 1996). Dr. Kerwin's scholarly articles have appeared in Public Administration Review , Journal of Politics , Policy Studies Review , Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory , Judicature , Justice System Journal , and Harvard Journal on Legislation . He is also the author of numerous monographs, chapters in edited books, anthologies, and articles in professional and popular publications.

HARRIET MAYOR FULBRIGHT
President, J. William & Harriet Fulbright Center
Link to Organization: http://www.hmfulbright.com/index.php Session: Special Plenary
Date: Thursday, March 13, 2008
Time: 3:30 -5:00 p.m.
Location: Ward 2

Harriet Mayor Fulbright is President of the J. William & Harriet Fulbright Center, a non-profit organization which serves to advance the work of Ms. Fulbright's late husband, Senator J. William Fulbright, and to continue her own lifework. The purpose of the Fulbright Center is to promote world peace and nonviolent means of resolving conflicts through international collaborations and education programs. The Fulbright Center partners with higher education institutions and interested individuals - students, teachers, scholars, and leaders - throughout the world in a range of services from assisting in building enriched study abroad programs to actively engaging higher education institutions in international peace making.

Ms. Fulbright has spent the majority of her adult life in the fields of education and the arts.  From 1997 until 2000 she was the Executive Director of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, whose mission is to encourage partnerships between the public and private sectors in order to enhance cultural life in America.  Prior to this position she served as "Unofficial Ambassador" for the 50 th anniversary of the Fulbright Program and in that capacity she traveled to numerous countries on all five major continents and all over the United States to speak about the importance of international education exchange and the pivotal role played by the Fulbright Program.

Her teaching experience is extensive.  While living in Korea she taught English composition and creative writing at Ewha Women's University, and in Moscow taught non-English speaking first graders to speak and read English.  In the United States she taught art at several institutions, including the Maret School and American University.  In 1980 she was elected "Teacher of the Year" at the Maret School.

Her administrative experience is also wide ranging.  When the Congressional Arts Caucus was formed on Capitol Hill she was its first Assistant Director, and she was later appointed Executive Secretary of the International Congress of Art Historians at the National Gallery's Center for the Advanced Study in the Arts.  In 1987 she became the Executive Director of the Fulbright Association, where she served for 3 years, moving it from Bryn Mawr to Washington and giving it more visibility and professionalism.  From 1990 to 1996 she was President of the Center for Arts in the Basic Curriculum, an organization which advocated education reform and conducted teacher training seminars.

For the last decade her lecture tours have been worldwide. She has been invited to give talks on such diverse topics as the vital role of international education exchange, arts education and its importance, the life of Senator J. William Fulbright, leadership and human progress, September 11 th and its impact, and life as a cancer patient.

Ms. Fulbright has a BA from Radcliffe College and an MFA from the George Washington University. She has also received Honorary Degrees: a Doctorate in Law from the University of Scranton, Doctorates in Humane Letters from Long Island University and from the Bank Street College of Education, a Doctorate from Pace University, and a Doctorate in Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. She was inducted as an Honorary Bennett Fellow of the School of International Studies, Oklahoma State University. Panama presented her with its highest civilian award - El Orden de Manuel Amador Guerrero - and the Republic of Hungary gave her a similar honor - the Middle Cross of the Order of Merit. Ms. Fulbright was awarded the Order of Australia by the Governor-General of Australia, for service to educational and cultural exchange between Australia and the United States

She also serves on a number of boards, including the Wendy and Emory Reves Center for International Studies, the International Child Arts Foundation, and the International Institute of Leadership and Public Affairs where she is chairman; the Academy of Educational Development and the National Foreign Language Center.

Ms. Fulbright shared with her late husband a dedication to the search for peaceful solutions to conflicts throughout the world.

SHERRY L. MUELLER
President, National Council of International Visitors
Link to Orgnization: http://www.nciv.org
Session: Keynote Speech
Date: Thursday, March 13, 2008
Time: 12:00 -1:30 p.m.
Location: Mary Graydon Center 3,4,5



A leader in the field of international exchange and citizen diplomacy, Sherry L. Mueller joined the National Council for International Visitors (NCIV) staff as Executive Director in January 1996 and has served as President of NCIV since 2001. Before coming to NCIV, she worked eighteen years for the Institute of International Education, first as a Program Officer and then as Director of the Professional Exchange Programs staff. She has served as an Adjunct Professor at the School of International Service, American University, where she taught courses on U.S. Public Diplomacy from 1981-1989. Prior to joining IIE, Sherry served as an Experiment Leader to the former Soviet Union, as English Language Officer for the U.S. Deparment of State, a lecturer at the University of Rhode Island, and a consultant to a variety of organizations, including the U.S. Department of State, Tufts University, and the National 4-H Foundation. She earned her Ph.D. at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the evaluation of exchange programs.

Sherry is an active volunteer and has served on the boards of various nonprofit organizations including the International Student House in Washington , DC . She is currently a member, Board of Trustees Executive Committee of World Learning, a board member of Friendship Force International, the J. William and Harriet Fulbright Center , and the Public Diplomacy Council. Sherry also serves on the SIS Dean's Advisory Council. And for fourteen years she has served as an usher captain at Foundry United Methodist Church .

In appreciation for her active role in alumni affairs at American University , Sherry received the Alumni Recognition Award in 1990. In 1995, she received the Distinguished Alumna Award from the Lake Park High School Educational Foundation. In 1996 she was presented with USIA's Award for Outstanding Service. Most recently the School of International Service , American University named Sherry "Alumna of the Year" in 2007. She is also listed in Who's Who in America . Sherry lived in Brazil , where she taught English, and has traveled extensively throughout East and West Europe and Southeast Asia . Sherry is often called upon to speak about the evaluation of international exchange programs, international careers, trends in international education and exchange, and building NGO leadership. In May 2001 she served as a speaker for the U.S. Department of State in Saudi Arabia giving lectures and conducting workshops on leadership development for nonprofit organizations.

In addition, Sherry has authored various publications, research reports and op ed pieces. She wrote a chapter entitled: "Professional Exchanges, Citizen Diplomacy, and Credibility" in the book America's Dialogue with the World published by the Public Diplomacy Council in 2006. She also coauthored (with Mark Overmann) a book entitled Working World Careers in International Education, Exchange, and Development to be published by Georgetown University Press in the Spring 2008. Sherry is a native of northern Illinois .

ROGER ROSENTHAL
Executive Director, Migrant Legal Action Program
Link to Orgnization: http://www.mlap.org/
Session: Keynote Speech
Date: Friday, March 14, 2008
Time: 12:45 -2:15 p.m.
Location: Mary Graydon Center 3,4,5


Roger C. Rosenthal, an attorney, is the Executive Director of the Migrant Legal Action Program (MLAP), a Washington, D.C.-based national non-profit support and advocacy center. He has served farmworkers at MLAP since 1980, becoming Executive Director in 1985.

Mr. Rosenthal is considered one of the foremost legal experts in the country regarding the rights of immigrant children and English Language Learners in the public schools and the Title I Migrant Education Program. He also works extensively on immigration policy issues, focusing on the impact of immigration policy on farmworker families. He represents the interests of migrant families on Capitol Hill, before federal and state administrative agencies, and in federal court. Roger was elected last year to be Co-Chair of the National Hispanic Education Coalition. He has worked on a variety of issues and cases during his tenure with MLAP, focusing on employment, housing, health, education, food and nutrition, and other areas.

He is a graduate of Yale College and Georgetown University Law School.

For more than thirty-seven years, the Migrant Legal Action Program has provided legal representation and a national voice for indigent migrant and seasonal farmworkers, the poorest group of working people in the United States. MLAP works to enforce rights and to improve public policies affecting farmworkers' working and housing conditions, education, health, nutrition, and general welfare. The program works with an extensive network of local service providers.

Migrant farmworkers, who harvest the fruits and vegetables for our daily sustenance, survive under unimaginably difficult conditions. They travel long distances to earn the least amount of money working the hardest jobs with the worst living conditions of any group in this country. Most migrant farmworkers are Latino and include a very high proportion of immigrants.