Americas Accreditation Conference

Keynote I: Engaging Your Team for the Future of Higher Education

Dan Pontefract, The Pontefract Group

Dan Pontefract is a renowned leadership strategist, author, and keynote speaker with over two decades of experience in senior executive roles at companies such as SAP, TELUS, and Business Objects. Since then, he has worked with organizations worldwide, including Salesforce, Amgen, the State of Tennessee, Nestlé, Canada Post, Autodesk, BMO, the Government of Canada, Manulife, Nutrien, and the City of Toronto, among others. As an award-winning and best-selling author, Dan has written four books: LEAD. CARE. WIN., OPEN TO THINK, THE PURPOSE EFFECT, and FLAT ARMY. His fifth book, WORK-LIFE BLOOM, will be published in 2023. Dan also writes for Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and other outlets. Dan is a renowned keynote speaker who has presented at four TED events and has delivered over 600 keynotes . He is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria's Gustavson School of Business and has received over 25 industry, individual, and book awards. Dan's career is interwoven with corporate and academic experience, coupled with an MBA, B.Ed, and multiple industry certifications and awards. Notably, Dan is listed on the Thinkers50 Radar, HR Weekly's 100 Most Influential People in HR, PeopleHum's Top 200 Thought Leaders to Follow, and Inc. Magazine's Top 100 Leadership Speakers.

Keynote II: Generative Artificial Intelligence Driving Re-Evaluation in Business Education

Brad Wheeler, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

Brad Wheeler is the SungKyunKwan Professor of Information Systems at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. With 20 years of higher ed administration, he has served as IU’s Vice President for IT & CIO with responsibilities for almost $200M in IT services and grants; Vice President for Communications and Marketing; as Interim Dean for the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering; and as department chair. He consults for companies and serves on both corporate and non-profit boards. He loves teaching his Kelley Direct MBA students.

M’hammed Abdous, Old Dominion University

With more than 22 years of experience in education and information technology, Dr. Abdous possesses extensive expertise in AI in higher education, online learning management, quality assurance, faculty support, curriculum design, and faculty training. As AVP for Teaching and Learning with Technology, he led the development of 34 online degree programs, encompassing 800 courses. Dr. Abdous has also initiated and overseen the design of more than 10 online learning solutions, including a Personal Learning Environment. This earned him the 2015 John R. Bourne Award for Outstanding Achievement in Online Education. He has authored 27 articles in prestigious ed-tech journals, presented 44 papers worldwide, and garnered several research awards. Beyond academia, he has collaborated with esteemed organizations such as UNICEF, IBE-UNESCO, and USAID on online learning, technology integration, and curriculum projects.

Anne Trumbore, UVA Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

Trumbore is responsible for expanding access to transformational learning experiences for learners globally. Previously, Anne established and led Wharton Online, at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. As an early-stage employee at Coursera, NovoEd, and Stanford’s Online High School, Trumbore helped pioneer new forms of student-centered online education. Her work has resulted in a number of publications on online pedagogy and history, the future of higher education, and the future of work. She holds an AB from Brown University, and MA from San Francisco State University, and an EdD from the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently working on a book for Princeton University Press on the history of online education.