Hurst Lecture Series – The Future of Higher Education: How Research Universities Are Responding to COVID-19
Featuring University of California President Janet Napolitano, State University of New York Chancellor Kristina Johnson, and University of Miami President Julio Frenk, in conversation with Dan Porterfield, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute. The conversation will delve into what research universities are doing to find solutions to COVID, the role university medical centers play in treating patients and developing vaccines, and the impact of this crisis on the future of higher education.
Janet Napolitano is the 20th president of the University of California, and the first woman to serve in this role. She leads a university system of 10 campuses, five medical centers, three affiliated national laboratories, and a statewide agriculture and natural resources program. Projects include stabilizing in-state tuition, a lawsuit over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and spearheading the University Climate Change Coalition. A distinguished public servant, Napolitano served as the U.S. secretary of homeland security from 2009 to 2013, as governor of Arizona from 2003 to 2009, as attorney general of Arizona from 1998 to 2003, and as U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona from 1993 to 1997. She received the University of Virginia’s Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal and serves on the American Law Institute’s Council and the Council on Foreign Relations board. Napolitano authored How Safe Are We? Homeland Security Since 9/11.
Dr. Kristina M. Johnson joined The State University of New York as its 13th Chancellor in September 2017. With 64 colleges and universities throughout New York State, more than 90% of all New Yorkers are within 30 miles of a SUNY campus. Dr. Johnson was co-founder and CEO of Cube Hydro Partners, LLC, a clean-energy infrastructure company focused on building and operating hydropower plants in North America. She also served as Under Secretary of Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. She served as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Johns Hopkins University from 2007 to 2009 and as Dean of the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University from 1999 to 2007. Named an National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator in 1985 and a Fulbright Faculty Scholar in 1991, Dr. Johnson’s academic awards include the Dennis Gabor Prize for creativity and innovation in modern optics (1993) and the John Fritz Medal (2008), which is widely considered the highest award in engineering.
Dr. Julio Frenk became the sixth president of the University of Miami in August of 2015. He also holds academic appointments as Professor of Public Health Sciences at the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine and as Professor of Health Sector Management and Policy at the Business School. Prior to joining the University of Miami, he was the dean for nearly seven years of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the T & G Angelopoulos Professor of Public Health and International Development, a joint appointment with the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He has received numerous recognitions, including the Clinton Global Citizen Award for changing the way practitioners and policy makers across the world think about health, the Bouchet Medal for Outstanding Leadership presented by Yale University for promoting diversity in graduate education, and the Welch-Rose Award for Distinguished Service from the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health.
