Conference 2016 Speakers

    Dr. Robert Thirsk was born in New Westminster, BC, and has lived in several towns in western Canada. Bob received degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Calgary and from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also holds a Doctorate of Medicine from McGill University, and a Master of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

    Bob has flown on two space missions as a member of the Canadian Space Agency’s astronaut corps. He first flew aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 1996 with six international crewmates as part of the Life and Microgravity Spacelab Mission. This 17-day mission was devoted to the study of life and materials sciences.

    In 2009 Bob launched aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). As members of the ISS Expedition 20/21 crew, Bob and his five crewmates performed multidisciplinary research which will bring benefit to world citizens and enable future space exploration. During the 188-day expedition, the crew also performed robotic operations and maintenance of Station systems and payloads.

    Bob is a strong promoter of an economy based upon exploration and innovation.  He was a recipient of the Paul Harris Fellow award in 2010 for his promotion of science curriculum in grade schools.  Bob encourages young people to build their dreams upon a solid educational foundation and advanced skills.

    Bob is currently the Chancellor of the University of Calgary and serves on several boards.

 

 

    One of America’s Most Celebrated Schoolteachers

    A once-in-a-lifetime educator, Rafe Esquith may be the most inspiring school teacher in America. He's been called "a modern day Thoreau" by Newsday, "a genius and a saint" by The New York Times, and "the most interesting and influential classroom teacher in the country" by The Washington Post. For the past two decades, Esquith has taught fifth graders at a public school in a Los Angeles neighborhood plagued by guns, gangs, and violence. His exceptional classroom at Hobart Elementary—known simply as Room 56—is unlike any other in the country.

Esquith's students are mostly immigrants or children of immigrants, living in poverty and learning English as a second language. Yet under his tutelage, they voluntarily come to class at 6:30 in the morning and often stay until five in the afternoon. They learn math, reading, and science. But they also play Vivaldi, perform Shakespeare, often score in the top one percent on standardized tests, and go on to attend the best universities. For his near-heroic work, Esquith is the only teacher to be awarded the President's National Medal of the Arts. He has received the National Teacher of the Year Award and won accolades from Oprah, the Queen, and the Dalai Lama. He's also written four books, with his most recent being the critically acclaimed Real Talk for Real Teachers, published in 2013. His other books include Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire, There Are No Shortcuts, and Lighting Their Fires. Esquith has also been featured, along with his students, in the PBS documentary The Hobart Shakespeareans.

    An upbeat, revitalizing speaker, Rafe Esquith inspires audiences with his personal journey and plea to make students our priority.