Keynote Speakers

Thinking strategically means taking the long view. During our general and plenary sessions at SunGard Summit, we bring you prominent thought leaders from within and without higher education to help you think differently about the challenges you face today and find the inspiration you need to make a difference tomorrow.

Christopher Gardner

General Session and Keynote Address
Sunday, April 11
12:00 PM PDT
Halls A-B-C (Moscone Convention Center)

You don’t want to miss this official Summit kick-off session!

Christopher Gardner, whose autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness, caught our attention in 2006, joins us to speak about his incredible journey from homelessness to success.

In 1981, as a new father, Christopher Gardner was determined to find a career that would be both lucrative and fulfilling. Fascinated by finance, but without connections, an MBA, or even a college degree, Christopher applied for training programs at brokerages, willing to live on next to nothing while he learned a new trade. Christopher earned a spot in the Dean Witter Reynolds training program but became homeless when he could not make ends meet on his meager trainee salary. The amazing story of how Christopher pursued his dream, cared for his son, and overcame great obstacles to become a successful entrepreneur was published as an autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness, in May 2006. The book spent over twenty weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into fourteen languages. Christopher’s story was also the inspiration for the film with Will Smith, “The Pursuit of Happyness,” released by Columbia Pictures in December 2006. Today, Christopher is an avid philanthropist and involved with homelessness initiatives, helping families stay intact and assisting homeless men and women who are employed but still cannot get by. He serves on the board of the National Education Foundation and sponsors two annual awards: the National Education Association’s National Educational Support Personnel Award and the American Federation of Teachers’ Paraprofessionals and School-Related Personnel (PSRP) Award. He also serves on the board of the International Rescue Committee, which works to provide access to safety, sanctuary, and sustainable change for millions of people whose lives have been shattered by violence and oppression. His new book, Start Where You Are: Life Lessons in Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be was published in 2009.

Greg Mortenson

Closing Session and Keynote Address
Wednesday, April 14
8:00 AM PDT
Halls A-B-C (Moscone Convention Center)

We’re very pleased to announce that Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, has accepted our invitation to speak at SunGard Summit’s closing session. Three Cups of Tea, Greg’s story of his remarkable humanitarian campaign to establish schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, has been a New York Times bestseller for more than 120 weeks, received the prestigious Kiriyama Peace Book Award, and was Time magazine’s 2006 “Asia Book of The Year.”

Greg’s journey began on July 24, 1992, when his younger sister, Christa, died from a massive seizure after a lifelong struggle with epilepsy. In 1993, to honor his sister’s memory, Greg set out to climb Pakistan’s K2, the world’s second highest mountain. The descent was treacherous, but through the aid of local villagers in northern Pakistan, Greg prevailed. While recovering, he met a group of children sitting in the dirt writing with sticks in the sand and made a promise—some thought a rash one—to help them build a school.

Since then, Greg has dedicated his life to promote education, especially for girls, establishing more than 90 schools in rural and often volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. These schools provide education to more than 34,000 children, including 25,000 girls, where few education opportunities existed before.

You can learn more about Three Cups of Tea at Greg’s website: www.threecupsoftea.com. We look forward to welcoming him to SunGard Summit.

Plenary Session Speakers

John Della Volpe

SocialSphere CEO &
Harvard University Institute of Politics Director of Polling
Millennials, Metrics and the New Media: Five Things You Need to Know
Monday, April 12
8:00 AM PDT
103 (S)

John has worked with Harvard’s Institute of Politics since the late 1990’s. At IOP, John leads a public opinion survey group to examine the attitudes of young Americans toward politics and public service. Since 2000, the IOP survey has tracked how the millennial generation has responded to 9/11, accurately predicted spikes in youth voter turnout, examined the growing importance of spirituality in the lives of young people, marked the generational shift in attitudes toward foreign policy, and provided insight into how young people communicate and form opinions.

In addition to his work on four presidential campaigns, John is an entrepreneur. His latest venture, SocialSphere, is a Web 2.0 product and strategy company. In 2008, John was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship which he used to study the use of technology among young people in Korea and China.

John joined us last year for SunGard Executive Summit. You can read what he had to say here.

Eva Egron-Polak

Secretary General, International Association of Universities (IAU)
The Global Campus: Higher Education Goes "International"
Tuesday, April 13
8:00 AM PDT
104 (S)

Eva Egron-Polak was educated in the Czech Republic, Canada and France.  Having studied French Literature, Political Science and International Political Economy, her post-graduate research focused on early stages of European Union policy in higher education.   For almost 20 years she served in various senior positions at the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) prior to becoming the Secretary General of IAU in 2002.  Her last position at AUCC was as Vice-President, International. 

As Secretary General of IAU, an independent, global association of universities and associations of higher education institutions based at UNESCO in Paris, Eva Egron-Polak is engaged with many of the most pressing policy issues in higher education – internationalization of higher education and intercultural learning, quality of cross-border higher education, provision of equitable access to and success in higher education, changing nature of institutional autonomy and the contribution of higher education to sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals, among others.  Since her appointment at IAU, she has focused on expanding the Association’s convening role, consolidating the Association’s capacity as a clearing house of information on the systems and institutions of higher education around the world.  Under her leadership IAU launched regular and systematic global surveys on internationalization, created a LEADHER grants programme for professional development and North-South and South-South collaboration and developed an advisory service to review and assess institutional internationalization strategies using expert Panels from around the world.  Eva Egron-Polak is a member of many boards and steering committees at UNESCO, the European Commission, OECD and others.  She has written and presented many papers on higher education topics and has expanded IAU partnerships to include many new organizations and networks.