50th International Conference on
Improving University Teaching
Conference theme: “Foundations for the Future”
July 31-Aug 2, 2024 + Extended Access
Hybrid Conference: Attend live or remotely, or view recordings on your schedule.
Keynote Speakers:
Provost Andrew Daire
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Dr. Andrew P. Daire serves as Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is also a professor in Educational Psychology. Dr. Daire brings 31 years of higher education experience to this role at UWM, including his most recent position as Dean of the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) from 2016-2023. A successful researcher and scholar, he’s received over $16M in external funding to support his research in couple/family stability and in career development and STEM and has over 80 professional publications. He previously served as dean of the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and held prior positions at the University of Houston and the University of Central Florida. He earned his doctorate in Counseling Psychology and School Psychology from Florida State University.
JonathanPowles
Central Queensland University
Professor Jonathan Powles is Vice-President for Student Success at Central Queensland University. Over a thirty-year career he has held academic and executive positions at universities in Australia, Scotland, and England. Originally a music academic, his leadership roles have more recently focused on learning and teaching, student success and wellbeing, widening participation, online learning, and the particular challenges and opportunities afforded universities in regional areas.
The title of his keynote talk is: “Higher Education’s Purpose: But a Slave to Memory?”
Anna Sedda
Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh
Anna Sedda is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Heriot-Watt University’s Edinburgh campus, where she teaches undergraduates and also serves as the university’s global program director, coordinating the work of her colleagues at the three HW campuses— Edinburgh, Dubai, and Malaysia. After completing her PhD and post-doc in Italy, Anna moved to the UK in 2015 to pursue a career in neuropsychology. But as she learned more about patients and their lives through her research, she also became a passionate advocate for kindness. More recently, Anna’s interests have expanded to include helping supporting staff who teach in Higher Education. She has initiated various projects under the umbrella title WELCOME (wellbeing, engagement, learning, opportunities, collaboration, mind set and education). These projects aim at using psychological knowledge to help re-build a culture of trust and compassion in Higher Education.
The title of her keynote address is “Compassion as the Foundation for Higher Education’s Future.”
Jim Wilkinson
President, IUT
Jim Wilkinson is the president of IUT and director emeritus of Harvard’s Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, which he led from 1988 until his retirement in 2009. He has taught European history and literature at Harvard, where he received Harvard’s Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Prize in 2003, and has written and lectured extensively on higher education in the U.S. and abroad. His interests in pedagogy include improving assessment, fostering undergraduate research, and understanding conceptual change.
His closing keynote title is: “Looking Under the Hood: How Students Learn.”
