Affiliations and personal history

Since I write about education, technology, and media, I thought perhaps an extra disclosure of my affiliations, past and present, would be useful.

I am a graduate of New York City public schools: PS 148 and JHS Joseph Pulitzer Junior HS (remember those?) Jackson Heights, Queens; Kakiat Junior HS and Spring Valley High School. Hebrew school? Tifereth Israel and Dov Revel.

BA SUNY Buffalo, English and music. MA University of Virginia, English. PhD Princeton University. Scattered coursework at NYU Stern School of Business and Exec Ed programs at Wharton.

Fuller work history here.

Places where I have previously served on boards, advisory groups, consultancies.

  • OnHealth
  • Topps
  • Apollo Education (parent company of University of Phoenix)
  • Princeton University
  • Cricket Media
  • National Football League
  • Metropolitan Opera
  • Noodle Partners

Places where I am currently affiliated.

  • Arizona State University, EdPlus (Management Committee) and Senior Advisor to the President
  • Movado, director
  • Strategic Cyber Ventures, director
  • ShortTok, strategic advisor
  • Chegg, advisory council
  • Footsteps, Board Co-Chair
  • Sustainable Media Center, Board
  • Break Through Tech, advisory council
  • Princeton University Graduate School, advisory council
  • Princeton University School of Engineering and Applied Science, advisory council
  • WorldQuant University, advisory council

Are Universities On the Wrong Side of History?

My latest in Forbes: will #Covid and #ZoomCourseraSouthern New Hampshire University,and @Google Career Certificates prove to be a passing tremor across the landscape of #highereducation — or do they signal The Big One? If your crystal ball on the #futureofeducation needs refreshing, here’s an excellent place to start. An important new book by Arthur Levine and Scott Van Pelt on which #universities will thrive, survive, or wither.

The future of higher education is…omnichannel.

My recent article in Forbes took me back to a day when Barnes and Noble was the ubiquitous bookseller on Main Street USA and Amazon was a blip on the horizon. I was interviewed by the B&N CEO to be the new head of digital services. During the … [Continue reading]

Cassandra or A Broken Clock?

I have been a university administrator, consultant, board director, and faculty member and have worked in public, private, nonprofit, and forprofit educational institutions. Now that CoVid has pushed colleges and universities to the breaking point, … [Continue reading]

The Day I Got Hooded (40 Years Late!)

Maybe someday I’ll write the full story of why I didn’t attend my first Princeton graduation, but for now, I am grateful that I got a second chance. And what a chance! Thanks to Sarah-Jane Leslie, Dean of the Princeton Graduate School, I was … [Continue reading]

Social media killed my blog

As in, I don't post much here anymore.  My observations on the general state of the world have devolved into quick hits on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.  I don't have too much use for Instagram or Snap, though I do aspire to experiment with … [Continue reading]

Big news! Wikipedia matters in higher ed!

In case you need a reminder about the glacial pace of innovation in #highered, here's a news story that some professors are learning to use Wikipedia. Wait, what?  This article should have appeared in 2006. Indeed, it is wonderful to read … [Continue reading]

Early days of nfl.com and how I made my first touchdown

OK, so it's not all about NFL....but I found this today, while looking for something else, and it is a mostly accurate and fun account of how WE BUILT THE INTERNET.  For sports, anyway, move over Al Gore.... … [Continue reading]

Stephen King, do a Taylor Swift on Apple books!

Last week, Taylor Swift stared down Apple and stood up for the artists.  Didn't take long, Apple backed down.  Rather cheerfully, I thought.  So big win for Taylor Swift and artists, and two bits for Apple. I've written before about frustration … [Continue reading]

Nah, i’m not going to return the Apple watch. Here’s why.

I bought it with the dream of walking on the beach and listening to audiobooks. Well, it can't do that. So I really thought about returning my now two-week-old Apple watch. But on balance, I have decided that its other tricks are … [Continue reading]