Past Speakers

Cal Poly Pomona was proud to present: A joint event sponsored by

Kellogg Distinguished Public Lecture Series
(funded by the Kellogg Legacy Project Endowment)
&
POLYTEACH 2012-13:
The  Information, Technology and Lifelong Learning Speaker Series
(supported by the La Bounty Endowed Chair in
Interdisciplinary Education)

Founder of the Khan Academy
Salman Khan
Discussed
Rethinking Education

With over 3,000 instructional videos, 300 exercises, and 3,700,000 unique users per month, the Khan Academy is rethinking the world of education. Founder Salman Khan provides insight into the history and the evolution of the Khan Academy and how we can rethink education.

Sal Khan is the founder of the Khan Academy, a nonprofit with the mission of providing free, high-quality education to "anyone, anywhere" in the world. A former hedge fund analyst with degrees from MIT and Harvard, Khan was helping a young cousin with math in 2004, communicating by phone and using an interactive notepad. When others expressed interest, he began posting videos of his hand-scribbled tutorials on YouTube. Demand took off, and in 2009 he quit his day job.

The Khan Academy website now provides self-pacing software and unlimited access to over 3,000 instructional videos on its YouTube channel covering everything from basic arithmetic to college level science and economics. It's the most-used library of educational videos on the web, with 4.2 million unique students per month, over 118 million lessons delivered, and over 260 million exercises completed. A growing number of classrooms around the world are using the Khan Academy to help build student mastery of topics and to free up class time for dynamic project based learning.

This lecture was jointly sponsored by the Kellogg Distinguished Public Lecture Series (funded by the Kellogg Legacy Project Endowment) and POLYTEACH 2012-13 / The Information, Technology and Lifelong Learning Speaker Series (funded by the Hugh O. La Bounty Endowed Chair of Interdisciplinary Applied Knowledge). The La Bounty Chair provides funding for distinguished visitors from academe, business, industry, the arts, and government, to serve as valuable links with the world and expose Cal Poly Pomona students to a variety of experiences, views, and opinions. Dr. La Bounty was the president of Cal Poly Pomona from 1977-1991. The endowed Chair program honors Dr. La Bounty's commitment to excellence in education during his many years of service at Cal Poly Pomona.

Photo by Joe Henson    

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist and Best-Selling Author

Isabel Wilkerson

Discussed her New York Times’ bestseller,

The Warmth of Other Suns:
The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Cal Poly Pomona University Theatre

Isabel Wilkerson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, is author of The New York Times’ bestseller, The Warmth of Other Suns. The book brings to life one of the greatest underreported stories of the 20th Century, a migration that reshaped modern America.  Wilkerson interviewed more than 1,200 people, unearthed archival research and gathered the voices of the famous and the unknown to tell the epic story of the redistribution of an entire people.  She chose to tell the story through three unforgettable protagonists as they make the decision of their lives.

Click here to read more on Wilkerson

Sustainable and intensive agriculture is considered by most, but not all, to be key to achieving food security in the U.S. and globally. Science and technology has been essential to the success of U.S. agriculture during the past century; and, with the applications of advanced genetics and genetic engineering, agriculture is poised to be a driver for a strong and sustainable bioeconomy into the future.  The lecture will consider the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Click here to read more on Beachy