66th Annual WAGS Conference

Cathy N. Davidson is the Senior Advisor on Transformation to the Chancellor of the City University of New York (CUNY), a role which includes work with all twenty-five campuses serving over 500,000 students. She is also the Founding Director of the Futures Initiative and Distinguished Professor of English, as well as the M.A. in Digital Humanities and the M.S. in Data Analysis and Visualization programs at the Graduate Center (CUNY). The author or editor of over twenty books, she has taught at a range of institutions, from community college to the Ivy League. She held two distinguished professor chairs at Duke University, where she taught for twenty-five years and also became the university’s (and the nation’s) first Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies. She is cofounder and codirector of “the world’s first and oldest academic social network,” the Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory (HASTAC.org, known as “Haystack”). Founded in 2002, HASTAC has over 18,000 network members.

Davidson’s many prizewinning books include the classics Revolution and the Word: The Rise of the Novel in America and Closing: The Life and Death of an American Factory (with photographer Bill Bamberger). Most recently, she has concentrated on the science of learning in the “How We Know” Trilogy: Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn; The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux; and, co-authored with Christina Katopodis, The New College Classroom (due August 2022).

Davidson has won many awards, prizes, and grants throughout her career including from the Guggenheim Foundation, ACLS, NEH, NSF, the MacArthur Foundation, and others. She is the 2016 recipient of the Ernest L. Boyer Award for “significant contributions to higher education.” She received the Educator of the Year Award (2012) from the World Technology Network and, in 2021, the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences presented Davidson with its annual Arts and Sciences Advocacy Award. She has served on the board of directors of Mozilla, was appointed by President Barack Obama to the National Council on the Humanities, and has twice keynoted the Nobel Prize Committee’s Forum on the Future of Learning. She lives in New York City.

Suzanne Ortega became the sixth President of the Council of Graduate Schools on July 1, 2014. Prior to assuming her current position, she served as the University of North Carolina (UNC) Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs (2011–14). Previous appointments include the Executive Vice President and Provost at the University of New Mexico (UNM),Vice Provost and Graduate Dean at the University of Washington (UW), and the University of Missouri (MU). Dr. Ortega's masters and doctoral degrees in sociology were completed at Vanderbilt University.

With primary research interests in mental health epidemiology, health services, race and ethnic relations, and graduate education, Dr. Ortega is the author or co-author of numerous journal articles, book chapters, and an introductory sociology text, now in its 9th edition. An award-winning teacher, Dr.Ortega has also served on review panels for National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health and has been the principal investigator or co-investigator on grants totaling more than $11 million in private foundation and federal funds. Dr. Ortega serves, or has served, on a number of professional association boards and committees,including the boards of the Councilof Graduate Schools, the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), the National Academies Committees on the Assessment of the Research Doctorate and Revitalizing Graduate STEM Education for the 21st Century, the NSF Human Resources Expert Panel and Education and Human Resources Advisory Committee, the North Carolina E-learning Commission, and the UNC, UNM, and UW Presses. She currently is a member of the Board of Trustees of American University in the Emirates

Stefan Sommer, Ph.D., is a Science Communicator, film producer, author, and public speaker. Founding Board member and speaker for the Northern Arizona Climate Change Alliance. Founding Board member and speaker for NAU’s Sustainable Ambassadors Program. Affiliate in NAU’s Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Adaptable Western Landscapes, with expertise in community ecology, sustainability, climate change, and education outreach. Sommer writes for the Arizona Daily Sun as author and editor of the column “Spotlight on Climate” and served as executive producer of four award-winning PBS documentaries on biodiversity and habitat conservation.

L. Maren Wood, Ph.D. is CEO and Director of the Center for Graduate Career Success, a mission-driven organization that partners with universities to prepare master’s and doctoral students for career success. The Center provides digital training platforms (Beyond the Professoriate and Beyond Graduate School) through which graduate students explore career options and learn job search strategies. Today, the Center partners with over 60 universities in the United States and Canada to scale career support for graduate students.

Since 2012, Dr. Wood has dedicated her career to supporting universities in preparing graduate students and PhDs for meaningful careers in academia and beyond. Her expertise has been featured in Inside Higher Ed, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and peer-reviewed books. She also serves as an external advisor on committees such as the Council of Graduate Schools Humanities Advisory Committee and the ETS Graduate Education Advisory Council, and is regularly sought as a keynote speaker.