Forum Network

Milton Chen, PhD, has been a leading figure in educational media for more than 20 years. He joined the George Lucas Educational Foundation as executive director in 1998, bringing new leadership to its mission of gathering and disseminating the most innovative models of K-12 teaching and learning in the digital age. Before that, he was the founding director of the KQED Center for Education and Lifelong Learning, in San Francisco, delivering educational services for teachers, parents, and community groups in support of public television programming. He has been a director of research at the Children's Television Workshop, in New York, and an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Most recently, Chen has served as a consultant to Children Now, the Educational Development Center, the Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education, and Scholastic. He received an AB in social studies from Harvard College and an MA and PhD in communication research from Stanford University.

Anne T. Converse is a New England-based, freelance documentary photographer. For the past twenty five years, Anne has been taking pictures that reflect her love for horses, wooden boats, people and places. She graduated in 1970 from Endicott College (Boston, MA) and furthered her education at the New England School of Photography from 1971 to 1973. Her travels have taken her throughout the United States and Alaska, to Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, Nepal, Africa, India, Sychelle Islands, Carribean, and Granada. She is co-author and photographer the book entitled *Wood, Wind & Water, A Story of the Opera House Cup Race of Nantucket*, released in June, 2002. She is also associate producer for the video documentary entitled *Wood, Wind & Water, Classic Yacht Racing in Antigua Regatta, 1999*.

Peter Steinfels, former senior religion correspondent for *The New York Times* and author of* A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America*. Steinfels currently directs the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture with his wife, Margaret O'Brien Steinfels. He has served as an editor of *Commonweal* magazine, the independent journal published by Catholic lay people, and *The Hastings Center Report*, the leading journal of medical and scientific ethics. He has been a visiting professor at Georgetown University, University of Notre Dame, and the University of Dayton. Peter and his wife will receive honorary degrees from the university at the ceremony. Steinfels, a Chicagoan, is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago and holds a doctorate in European history from Columbia University in New York. He and his wife have two grown children and two grandchildren.

Elaine C. Hagopian is a Syrian-American sociologist. She is a professor emeritus of sociology at Simmons College in Boston and a former chairperson of the department.