With the start of the New Year, we are pleased to welcome the latest rotation of leaders to Coursera’s University Advisory Board (UAB): David Lee, Provost of Princeton University; Sir Tim O’Shea, Principal of the The University of Edinburgh; Ben Polak, Provost of Yale University; and Wei Shyy, Provost of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
We are indebted to our outgoing UAB members Chris Eisgruber, formerly Provost and now President of Princeton University, who is replaced by his successor, David Lee; John Etchemendy, Provost of Stanford University; Peter Lange, Provost of Duke University; and Phyllis Wise, Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. These individuals, and the universities that they represent, have had a major impact on Coursera’s growth, and we are grateful for their thoughtful guidance and service to the cause of advancing global education.
“I wish to extend my deep personal thanks and express our collective appreciation to Chris Eisgruber, John Etchemendy, Peter Lange, and Phyllis Wise, who will be rotating off the Board, for their insight and valuable assistance, said Vincent Price, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, and Chair of the UAB. “They have each done much – and will continue to do more, no doubt – to shape Coursera.”
“It has been a special privilege to be on the UAB,” said Provost Peter Lange of Duke University. “The chance to have substantive and meaningful input to Coursera and its strategy at the infancy of the MOOC era, to come to understand the enormous opportunities, and not inconsiderable challenges in meeting its educational mission, and to work with a great group of university leaders and the Coursera leadership has been invaluable for me and for Duke’s ability to develop its strategy for the use of online course materials.”
The UAB plays a vital role in determining Coursera’s trajectory, guiding our company’s priorities and policies, and helping ensure that the interests of our students and partner institutions are met. This group is collectively responsible for the approval of all new partnership decisions and for surfacing the preferences of Coursera’s existing partners. It also provides advice and feedback on a range of strategic policy decisions, from Terms of Service changes, to content development, to business model adjustments.
Our UAB is composed of nine members at any given time and operates on a three year cycle, wherein three members are rotated off each year, and three new members are welcomed on board for a three year term. This marks our first rotation.
“Having come from an academic background, my co-founder Andrew and I are keenly aware of the value of the opinions of our peers and we are fortunate to have not only their expertise but their support in this endeavour to change education on a global scale,” said Coursera co-founder Daphne Koller. “We welcome our new advisors, and appreciate the continued support from our current advisors: Patrick Aebischer, President of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; Rafael Bras, Provost of Georgia Institute of Technology; Martha Pollack, Provost of University of Michigan; Vincent Price, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania; and Margaret Sheil, Provost of The University of Melbourne.”