Frank Anderson, Jr.  |  Gordon Freedman  |  Kathleen Gilroy  |  VADM Alfred Harms

Frank Anderson, Jr.

Mr. Frank Anderson is President of the Defense Acquisition University (DAU), an award-winning corporate university. DAU has been selected by the United States Distance Learning Association for multiple e Learning best practice awards for 2002 (also in 2005). In 2003, DAU won the coveted Brandon Hall Gold Medal Award for Excellence in e-Learning Best Practices for its Performance Learning Model (PLM). In 2004, Frank Anderson was selected Chief Learning Officer of the Year by Chief Learning Officer magazine. Also in 2004, DAU was selected as the top corporate university in America by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) Best Award. Recently in September 2005 and 2006, DAU was selected by Leadership Excellence magazine for the best Leadership Development Program in the military / government sector. Finally, DAU was selected in 2006 as, “Best Overall Corporate University,” “Best Mature Corporate University,” and as, “Best Virtual Corporate University.” In addition, Frank Anderson was again selected as “Corporate University Leader of the Year for 2006”.

Gordon Freedman

Gordon Freedman, Vice President Education Strategy, has 20 years of experience in educational technology including with a focus on the intersection of enterprise technology, institutional practice, research and state policy. Within Blackboard, Freedman advises on educational issues, bringing state, institutional and community needs to the attention of Blackboard to affect product and corporate development. In addition, Freedman speaks, writes, and conducts research externally about education trends, future perspectives, and policy issues.

Freedman serves on the Fairfax Education Foundation board, advises the North American Council for Online Learning, is an advisor for Hebrew College, was co-founder of the International School of Monterey, and provided advice to the US Department of Education Office of Educational Technology. Freedman led Prometheus, a course management system, to market for George Washington University and served as a consultant to Michigan State University and the University of California in a variety of capacities.

Freedman joined Blackboard from his consulting company, Knowledge Base, LLC, a provider of expert advice for transforming education through e-Learning, media, and enterprise technology.

Kathleen Gilroy

Kathleen Gilroy is the CEO of The Otter Group, a company that uses web 2.0 services to build networks to help people create, share, and learn. Kathleen has developed successful peer-to-peer communities and learning networks for enterprises, universities, associations, and non-profits. Her past and present clients include Merrill Lynch, Fidelity Investments, CDM, The Sloan School at MIT, Harvard Business School, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, The American Library Association, The Peter F. Drucker Association for Non-Profit Management, Coopers & Lybrand, Digital Equipment Corporation, The Philanthropic Initiative, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Polaroid Corporation, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. Ms Gilroy has written many papers and is a popular speaker. Her publications include: Web 2.0 for Business Advantage, Preparing for Intranet 2.0, Podcasting for Learning, and Winning the Race for Knowledge Worker Productivity. Kathleen writes about learning communities and web 2.0 on her corporate weblog for the Otter Group. She writes about her personal interests on KathleenGilroy.com. She does a podcast series on learning and collaboration, Learning 2.0 Tip of the Week, that can be found on iTunes.

Ms. Gilroy received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University (1979). She has served on the boards of the Boston Film and Video Foundation and the Stanford Club of Boston (former officer), and the Feathered Pipe Foundation. Charitable services include volunteering for the AIDS Interfaith Ministry and Cambridge Cares about AIDS. Ms. Gilroy has been a Big Sister and has led a Girl Scout Troop in Somerville, Massachusetts. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband, Harry Fix, a professional jazz pianist.

VADM Alfred G. Harms, Jr. (USN, ret.)

Mr. Al Harms is currently serving on the staff of the University of Central Florida as Assistant Vice President for Research and Special Assistant to the President. In addition to broad responsibilities on the university’s senior leadership team, he is actively involved in leading-edge research at the university’s Institute for Simulation and Training. Mr. Harms also serves on various Advisory Boards for academic, scientific, corporate and philanthropic organizations located across the nation.

Mr. Harms joined the University of Central Florida following his final active duty assignment where he served as Commander, Naval Education and Training Command and Director, Navy Education and Training on the Chief of Naval Operations’ staff. As the Navy’s Chief Learning Officer for almost 4 years, he led an extraordinary transformation of all Navy education and training for both officer and enlisted personnel. This world-wide effort included extensive organizational realignment, widely expanded distributed learning capabilities, sweeping upgrades to supporting IT systems, and comprehensive curricula re-engineering centered on human performance principles and the science of learning.

Al Harms completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois (BS--Biology), graduate studies at Texas A&M University (MS--Statistics) and myriad military schools throughout his career, including the NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy. Commissioned through the Naval ROTC Program, he completed Navy flight training and served in various A-6 Intruder attack squadrons prior to completing U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and commanding Attack Squadron Seventy Five (VA-75). After completion of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, he served as Executive officer of USS Enterprise (CVN-65) and later commanded USS Shreveport (LPD-12) and USS Nimitz (CVN-68), the lead ship of America’s largest class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

Promoted to Flag (General Officer) rank in 1996, he had five follow-on assignments, including Deputy Director of Operations, U.S. Central Command; Commander, Carrier Group Three during combat operations in southwest Asia; Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff, U.S. Pacific Fleet; Director, Assessment Division (N81) on the CNO’s staff; and Commander, Naval Education and Training Command. Following transition from active duty in January 2005, Al and his wife Gina settled in central Florida.