Matthew Rascoff, Vice President for Technology-Based Learning and Innovation

Rascoff leads online and blended learning at UNC, serving over 70,000 students who take courses online in 320 degree and certificate programs. He is responsible for the university's learning innovation strategy, marketing, R&D, professional development, and student experience and outcomes.

Diana Ashe, Interim Director, Center for Teaching Excellence and Center for Faculty Leadership and Associate Professor, Department of English, UNC Wilmington

Ashe is Associate Professor of English and Interim Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence and Center for Faculty Leadership at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Recipient of the 2011 Board of Trustees Award for Teaching Excellence, a 2011 Distinguished Teaching Professorship, and a 2010 Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence, she balances her work in faculty development with teaching courses in rhetoric and professional writing.

Laura Cruz, Director of the Coulter Faculty Commons and Associate Professor at Western Carolina University

Originally from Richmond, VA, Cruz received her MA in History from Purdue in 1994 and PhD in European History from the University of California at Berkeley in 2001. She joined the faculty at Western Carolina University in 2002 and currently holds the rank of Associate Professor. Her signature class is the history of death.

Bill Sederburg, Interim Chancellor at UNC Wilmington

Sederburg is a former Michigan state senator and university president who retired as Utah's Commissioner of Higher Education. He became interim chancellor on August 1, 2014. He is known and respected throughout the nation as a skillful administrator and an expert on education finance and policy, institutional leadership, and facilitating university change.

John Katzman, 2U co-founder & Noodle Education

Katzman has founded and run three education companies: The Princeton Review, 2U, and now Noodle; in each, he's brought together incredible people and helped them create transformative services and compelling cultures. He sits on the Boards of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the National Association of Independent Schools, and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

John LeBaron, Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Lowell

LeBaron, a nationally known authority in educational technology and leadership, will be Western Carolina University's first Jay M. Robinson Distinguished Professor in Educational Technologies. LeBaron helped lead information technology and academic technology initiatives for the five-campus University of Massachusetts system, and he served as adviser to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education.

John Sherer, Spangler Family Director of the University of North Carolina Press

Prior to UNC Press, Sherer was Vice President and Publisher of Basic Books. Sherer took over the publisher role of the Basic Books Group in 2006, with responsibility for managing all aspects of the nonfiction publishing house's operations, including editorial, marketing, publicity, and design. Sherer previously held marketing positions in New York and Washington, D.C. at Basic Books, Brookings Institution Press, and Henry Holt.

Justin Reich, Richard L. Menschel HarvardX Research Fellow

Reich is also a Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, a Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a lecturer in the Scheller Teacher Education Program at MIT. Justin is the co-founder of EdTechTeacher, a professional learning consultancy devoted to helping teachers leverage technology to create student-centered, inquiry-based learning environments. He earned his doctorate from Harvard University.

Stace Carter, University Visual & Apple Distinguished Educator

Carter has worked as a media producer and instructor at the University of Virginia since 2004 and currently directs production for the University's Office of Online Learning, specializing in course design for Massive Open Online Courses, or "MOOCs". Stace brings over a decade's worth of experience in commercial broadcast production to the application of digital narrative, and particularly documentary storytelling, in the academy.

Edward O'Neill, Senior Instructional Designer, Information Technology Services, Yale University

Prior to Yale, O'Neill was Senior Consultant in Learning Technology and Design at the University of Southern California. Before working at USC, he worked at Stanford, where he served as an instructional technologist for required undergraduate humanities courses and elective freshmen and sophomore seminars from across the disciplines. He has been implementing novel academic technology solutions in higher education for over 12 years.

Rebecca Griffiths, SRI

Griffiths leads Ithaka S+R's growing program in online learning. One of her primary objectives in this role is to explore how interactive learning platforms, such as Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs), could be adopted by faculty to improve learning and reduce costs within public universities and colleges. She currently manages an initiative to test a variety of approaches to implementing online learning systems for campus-based students in partnership with the University System of Maryland.

Tom Ross, President of the University of North Carolina

Ross became president of the 17-campus University of North Carolina on January 1, 2011. In 1999, Ross was appointed director of the state's Administrative Office of the Courts. Prior, he held a position on the North Carolina Superior Court for 17 years. Ross has received numerous awards and accolades for his vast public service and professional achievements.