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October 23-26, 2005
Wyndham Anatole Hotel
Dallas, TX

For more information contact
Ed Leach
(480) 705-8200 x233

Hosted By:
Dallas County
Community Colleges

Collin County Community College District

North Texas Community College Consortium

Tarrant County
College District

Future Conference Dates:

October 22-25, 2006
Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte, NC

Hosted by the Charlotte Regional Workforce Development Partnership

General Conference, Ancillary Meetings, Hotel Information:
Robin Piccirilli
(480) 705-8200 x232

Presenter Questions:
Robin Piccirilli
(480) 705-8200 x232

Registration Questions:
Judy Greenfield
(480) 705-8200 x200

Exhibition, Partnership:
Jennifer Watts
(480) 705-8200 x237

Website Questions:
Webmaster
(480) 705-8200 x242
(480) 705-8200 x225

John O'Brien was recently named Chief Academic Officer at Century College, a community and technical college and the largest two-year college in Minnesota. Prior to this position, he served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Instructional Technology for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, one of the largest higher education systems in the United States. At Normandale Community College, he served as president of the faculty association and taught traditional and distance learning courses.

O'Brien earned his Ph.D. in English from the University of Minnesota and a master's degree in Anglo-Irish literature as a Rotary Scholar at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. He received a B.A. from Augustana College in English and Education. He has taught and published extensively in his academic discipline, and his publications include a book on Milan Kundera and feminist literary theory, published by St. Martin's Press.

In his campus and system leadership role, O'Brien has called on his faculty experience and drawn on his student-centered approach to innovation to ground his advocacy for technology-enhanced teaching. Rather than promoting the latest technology trends for their own sake, he has championed the notion that movement toward emerging technologies and pedagogical innovations must be inspired by a pull and not forced with a push. His leadership is founded on the conviction that the new interactive technologies have enriched the lives of students, and reaching these students will increasingly require integrating, if not embracing, these new approaches.

Throughout the United States, O'Brien has given presentations and worked with colleges and universities on a wide variety of teaching and learning topics through the Services Division of the League for Innovation. He has been a keynote presenter at campus, regional, and national higher education events and conferences, and he has given a televised public lecture in Akita, Japan, on the future of e-learning.

O'Brien has received awards and has been recognized for his scholarship, his teaching, and his leadership, and he is currently working on a novel that has nothing to do with higher education or instructional technology.

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