Meet Our 2022 Keynote Speakers
For this year’s summit, we are excited to announce that Robert J. Awkard and Karen Cangialosi will be joining us to provide keynote talks.
Dr. Robert J. Awkward
Dr. Robert J. Awkward is the Assistant Commissioner for Academic Effectiveness for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education. In this role, he directs two statewide programs for public higher education:
- Increasing the adoption, adaptation, and creation of open educational resources that serve to lower the costs of textbooks and ancillaries and increase student learning, persistence and completion.
- Advancing and deepening the culture of learning outcomes assessment in order to increase student learning
Bob is also the Co-PI for a Department of Education Open Textbook Pilot federal grant program along with a consortium of six public institutions that is funding faculty to adapt and create inclusive, accessible and culturally relevant open textbooks that align with our marketplace needs.
Robert is a tenured professor of business administration (currently on leave) at Middlesex Community College. He also serves as a visiting professor and program coordinator for the Masters in Human Resources program at Framingham State University. Finally, Bob was graduated with B.A. in Political Science and a M.S. in Economic Policy & Planning from Northeastern University; a M.Ed. in Human Resources Development from Boston University; and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Dr. Karen Cangialosi
Dr. Karen Cangialosi is the Program Director of the Regional Leaders of Open Education (RLOE), an OE Global/CCCOER network designed to build OE leadership in postsecondary institutions across North America. She is also a co-founder of the Institute for Racially Just, Inclusive and Open STEM (RIOS) and serves as the RIOS Director of Open Ed and Open Science. She is frequently invited to present and consult about open education in the US and abroad and is a course developer for the new Open Education professional program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
A biology professor and fierce student advocate, she incorporates open pedagogy into all her courses, and she leads faculty development efforts in open and critical digital pedagogy. Because she believes that scientific investigation should be transparent, widely collaborative and designed to serve the public, she advocates for integrating the principles and practices of Open Science into the undergraduate STEM curriculum. She has also been a long-time street activist and community leader fighting for women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, anti-racism, and social justice. Read more about Karen on her website: https://karencang.net/