The Tech Awards Judges
Education
Michael Kevane, Chair
Associate Professor and Chair
Economics Department
Santa Clara University
Professor Kevane teaches courses on the Economics of Gender in Developing Countries, African Economic Development, and International Economics. He has published articles on the performance of rural institutions and markets in journals such as Review of Development Economics, World Development, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, and Africa. He is the author of Women and Development in Africa: How Gender Works, and is also co-editor (with Endre Stiansen) of a book titled, Kordofan Invaded: Peripheral Incorporation and Sectoral Transformation in Islamic Africa.
He currently studies how access to books, libraries, and reading programs affect student performance, and has published in the journals World Libraries, Libri and Bulletin des Bibliothèques de France. He also writes and gives talks on various aspects of the political economy of Sudan and Burkina Faso. Professor Kevane is fluent in Spanish and French, and is well-versed in Sudanese colloquial Arabic.
Stuart Gannes
Executive Director
Fab Foundation
Stuart Gannes' career spans education, journalism, software development, research, education and non-profits. He has worked as a journalist at Time-Life Books, and as science and technology writer for Discover and Fortune Magazines based in New York. In 1988-89 Gannes was a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. He later returned to Silicon Valley to join MIPS Computers, started by Stanford Prof. John Hennessy. In 1992 he was the founder and CEO of Books That Work, an award-winning software publisher that pioneered interactive 'how-to' e-books. From 1998-2002 Gannes was Vice President for Internet Applications at AT&T Labs. From 2002-08 he was Director of Stanford University's Reuters Digital Vision Fellowship Program. He currently works with organizations seeking to bring technology and social media tools to communities. Gannes has a BA in History from the University of Michigan, and a Masters in Education and Social Policy from Harvard University.
Gannes offers a unique mix of educational, publishing, technology and business skills, combined with a strong sense of ethics and social values. He is an accomplished manager in education, research, media and software development fields, and has taken on financial responsibility for a multitude of projects and programs at start-ups, large corporations and non-profits. He is an entrepreneur, manager and coach with an open and inclusive style, and has the ability to bridge diverse positions and reach consensus. He has had success as a fund-raiser for ".coms", ".orgs", and ".edus", and has experience working with venture capital firms, private philanthropists, government agencies and technology corporations. He is able to communicate effectively with creative talent, including engineers and scientists, entrepreneurs, students, educators, and journalists. His experience has also developed his skills in positioning organizations to improve quality, positioning and performance.
Tracy Gray
Managing Director
American Institutes for Research
Tracy Gray is the director of NCTI and a managing research scientist at AIR. Tracy is a nationally recognized expert in education and technology and has led numerous projects in the United States and internationally, examining the impact of technology on educational achievement. In addition, she has published and lectured widely on issues related to the integration of emerging technologies into the classroom and after-school programs. She recently published The Gateway to Student Success in Mathematics and Science for Microsoft and Teacher Learning Online: Improving the Teaching of Mathematics Through Better Professional Development for the U.S. Department of Education.
Before working at AIR, Tracy was vice president for youth services at the Morino Institute and was responsible for the design and implementation of the Youth Development Collaborative (YDC) pilot. That effort sought to understand the complexities of integrating technology into schools and community-based organizations. Under Gray's leadership, the lessons learned from the YDC led to the development of the YouthLearn Guide: A Creative Approach to Working With Youth and Technology and the YouthLearn Web site. Those award-winning tools serve as resources for teachers and staff interested in using technology to enhance educational programs for children.
Tracy also served as the first deputy executive director and chief operating officer for the Corporation for National Service (CNS). As part of the leadership team, she helped launch AmeriCorps, which enabled more than 50,000 members working in more than 1,000 programs to serve communities throughout the United States.
Tracy holds Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in education and psychology from Stanford University and received an A.B. in psychology from the University of California, Riverside. She holds a California secondary teaching credential and is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Juan Enrique Hinostroza
Director
Instituto de Informática Educativa, Universidad de La Frontera
Dr. Juan Enrique Hinostrozais the director of the Instituto de Informática Educativa at the Universidad de La Frontera in Temuco, Chile. He also serves as an associate professor at the Instituto, and an associate researcher at the Centro de Estudios de Políticas y Prácticas en Educación de la Universidad Católica de Chile, Fundación Chile, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, and the Universidad de La Frontera. His research evaluates the introduction and use of Information Communication Technologies in K-12 education and the use of ICT in K-12 Education Policy Evaluation and Design. Juan Enrique received his Master in Engineering Sciences from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in 1990 where he studied Industrial Civil Engineering with a specialization in Computer Science. He received his PhD in 1999 from the Institute of Education at the University of London.
