Leading educational thinkers to discuss public education at May 13 Commencement Forum

Linda Darling-Hammond is a professor of education at Stanford University. In 2008 she was tapped to lead President Barack Obama’s education policy transition team. Her research, teaching, and policy work focus on issues of school reform, teacher quality and educational equity. From 1994-2001, she served as executive director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a blue-ribbon panel whose 1996 report, What Matters Most: Teaching for America’s Future, led to sweeping policy changes affecting teaching in the United States.  In 2006, this report was named one of the most influential affecting U.S. education and Darling-Hammond was named one of the nation’s 10 most influential people affecting educational policy. (More)

Carlos A. Garcia is the superintendent of San Francisco Unified School District. Under his leadership, the district has seen consistent improvement in achievement for all students, including increased academic gains for Latino and African American students. He has also led the way for district policies aimed at graduating all SFUSD students with bilingual skills and the credits required for admission to California’s university system. (More)

Claude Steele is the provost of Columbia University and a professor of psychology. He is recognized as a leader in the field of social psychology and for his commitment to the systematic application of social science to problems of major societal significance. His research focuses on the psychological experience of the individual and, particularly, on the experience of threats to the self and the consequences of those threats. (More)

Diane Watson is a former United States congresswoman who has shown a commitment to education throughout her life. She holds a PhD in educational administration from Claremont Graduate University. Watson's lifetime commitment to education stems from her involvement in the Los Angeles public school system, where she worked as an elementary school teacher and school psychologist. In 1975, she became the first African-American woman to be elected to the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education. While on the board, she pressed for expanded school integration and more rigorous academic standards. She was elected to the California State Senate in 1978. She was first elected to the U.S. Congress in 2001. (More)