Speaker biographies

Mark Bauerlein has been a professor of English at Emory University since 1989. From 2003 to 2005, he was director of the Office of Research and Analysis at the National Endowment for the Arts, where he oversaw studies about culture and American life. His latest book is The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Tarcher, 2008). Mr. Bauerlein is also the author of Negrophobia: A Race Riot in Atlanta, 1906 (Encounter, 2002) and The Pragmatic Mind: Explorations in the Psychology of Belief (Duke University Press, 1997). Apart from his scholarly work, he publishes in popular periodicals such as the Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, the Washington Post, the Times Literary Supplement, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Frederick M. Hess is a resident scholar and director of education policy studies at AEI and executive editor of Education Next. His many books include The Future of Educational Entrepreneurship (Harvard Education Press, 2008), No Remedy Left Behind (AEI Press, 2007), Tough Love for Schools (AEI Press, 2006), Common Sense School Reform (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), and Spinning Wheels (Brookings Institution Press, 1998). His work has appeared in both popular and scholarly outlets, including Social Science Quarterly, American Politics Quarterly, Education Week, Phi Delta Kappan, the Washington Post, and National Review. Mr. Hess serves on the review board for the Broad Prize in Urban Education, as a research associate with the Harvard University Program on Education Policy and Governance, and as a member of the research advisory board for the National Center for Educational Accountability. He is a former high school social studies teacher and professor at the University of Virginia.

Neil Howe is a founding partner and president of the consulting firm LifeCourse Associates. A historian, economist, and demographer, Mr. Howe is also a public policy advisor to the Blackstone Group, a senior adviser to the Concord Coalition, and a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. With coauthor William Strauss, his books include Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069 (Harper Perennial, 1991), The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy (Broadway Books, 1997), Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation (Vintage Books, 2000), Millennials Go To College (AACRAO, 2003), and Millennials and the Pop Culture (LifeCourse Associates, 2006). Mr. Howe’s research on millennials in colleges and in the military was featured on 60 Minutes, and his articles have appeared in The Atlantic, the Washington Post, the New York Times, American Demographics, USA Weekend, and other national publications.

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