Updates from the President

This month our 30-member Trustees of ASU named two new co-chairs, Laura Roskind and Bob Zollars, to lead its support of ASU's success.

Laura Roskind first became familiar with ASU through participation in the Presidential Engagement Programs (PEP), ASU Foundation- sponsored courses, lectures and tours that give participants unique, interactive learning opportunities at ASU. Laura has since been very active in ASU's Institute for Human Origins, as well as the ASU President's Club and the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean's Council.

Bob Zollars, chairman and CEO of Vocera Communications, Inc., has a long history with ASU, beginning with the marketing degree he earned here in 1979. He has since taught classes, served on the W. P. Carey School of Business Marketing Advisory Board and chaired the School's Center for Services Leadership and was inducted into the W. P. Carey Hall of Fame.

Both Laura and Bob bring great dedication, enthusiasm and generosity to the work of advancing ASU as a leading-edge, 21st century university. ASU is grateful for the guidance and friendship of our Trustees.

Charged with serving as university champions and public advocates committed to affinity-building efforts across the institution, the Trustees of ASU include the following leaders:

Martin Alvarez Sr., Don Budinger, Wil Cardon, Wayne Doran, Kathleen Duffy Ybarra, Sharon Dupont McCord, Florence Eckstein, Jeff Ehret, Curtis Frasier, Ira Fulton, Michael Glimcher, Laurie Goldstein, John Graham, Sharon Harper, Bob Johnson, David Katzin, David Lincoln, Chuck Michaels, Craig Newman, Vicki Panhuise, Bill Post, Laura Roskind, Adelaida Severson, Trish Stark, Brian Swette, Corina Tapscott, Gary Tooker, Gregg Tryhus, Greg Vogel, Craig Weatherup, Patty Withycombe, Bob Zollars

April 14th marked the 10th anniversary of ASU's School of Sustainability, the nation's very first stand-alone, sustainability degree-granting program.

What began as a transdisciplinary experiment within the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability has grown into a program with more than 1,500 enrolled students engaged in solution-oriented, sustainability majors and minors that span the fields of engineering, business, humanities and nutrition.

A decade ago, ASU's School of Sustainability demonstrated leadership by being the first program to train ASU students for specialized sustainability jobs that did not yet exist. Now, more than 100 sustainability programs exist nationwide.

The reality is that there remains a lot that we don't know and science must mature more rapidly to better understand the complex relationship between Earth and people who call it home. Our work is cut out for us and we must continue working to identify new and better outcomes.

I take great pride in this meaningful milestone and the work of every student, staff, faculty member and supporter who made it possible. The best is yet to come.

San Diego typically brings to mind images of sun, sand and surf, but there was too much to do at last week's ASU GSV Summit for any of that.

Seven years since its inception at SkySong, the ASU GSV Summit has grown into a global convening of more than 3,000 education, business, technology, policy and investment leaders. Furthermore, it has established itself a must-attend event for education and education technology leaders interested in sharing ideas, making new connections, and hearing from an array of diverse thought leaders.

This year's speakers included Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (who praised ASU as a driver of education change), former U.S. Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice, CEO of the Khan Academy Sal Khan, lyricist and actor Common, General Stanley McChrystal (ret.), and renowned architect, Frank Gehry.

The 2016 Summit was also special in that it was the first time the Harold W. McGraw Prize in Education was co-presented by McGraw-Hill Education and Arizona State University. ASU is honored to partner with McGraw-Hill and the McGraw family to award education's premier recognition to the world's leading education innovators. I invite you to watch my brief conversation with this year's winners, Anant Agarwal, Alberto Carvalho and Sakena Yacoobi.

My own keynote (video below), emphasized the importance of activating human potential to create adaptive "master learners' and how higher education must evolve through continuous waves of change in order to meet societal challenges.

ASU is excited to be leading the newest wave of change ("Wave 5") and to work with others (like the University Innovation Alliance) to help explore and innovate alternative groundbreaking models to take teaching and learning to new levels.

Every year, I present awards to members of our ASU community for their exemplar efforts to move ASU forward in a meaningful way. The President's Awards formally recognize individuals and teams who have identified an opportunity or need at ASU, developed a new solution, and demonstrated that the approach is effective. In doing so, they set an example for the rest of the university and inspire others to be creative in helping ASU to advance its charter, mission and goals.

I recently had the pleasure of honoring these ASU innovators:

President's Award for Innovation

• Redesigning Teacher Professional Development
• Starbucks College Achievement Plan

President's Medal for Social Embeddedness

• FitPHX Energy Zones

President's Award for Sustainability

• No Wasted Paint Program

SUN Award for Individual Excellence

• Stacey Bales, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Polytechnic
• Haley Chapman, New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, West
• Brian McCarthy, University Registrar Services
• Kate Opitz, College of Health Solutions

I congratulate our 2016 honorees for their hard work and dedication to excellence. If you would like to watch the award presentations, please visit the link below.