2011+Keynote+Speaker+Bios

Larry Gelwix
Larry Gelwix coaches the rugby team of Highland High School in Salt Lake City; they are the coach and team that inspired the recent movie Forever Strong. A native of California, Gelwix played rugby for three years at BYU, served as a seminary teacher, and currently operates a travel agency. Known as the Getaway Guru, he is also co-host of The Travel Show, a weekend program aired on KNRS Radio in Salt Lake City and various stations throughout the Intermountain West. Gelwix and his wife, Cathy, are the parents of five children.

Linda Darling-Hammond
Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University, where she has launched the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and the School Redesign Network and served as faculty sponsor for the Stanford Teacher Education Program. Darling- Hammond is a former president of the American Educational Research Association and member of the National Academy of Education. Her research, teaching, and policy work focus on issues of school restructuring, teacher quality, and education equity. Darling-Hammond was named one of the nation's ten most influential people affecting educational policy over the last decade.

David Pogue
David Pogue, the personal-technology columnist for the New York Times, publishes each week a print column, an online column, and an online video, as well as a popular daily blog, “Pogue’s Posts.” He is also an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News, and he appears each week on CNBC with his trademark comic tech videos. His web site is www.davidpogue.com.

David A. Sousa
David A. Sousa is an international consultant in educational neuroscience and author of seven books that suggest ways that educators and parents can translate current brain research into strategies for improving learning. A member of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, he has conducted workshops in hundreds of school districts on brain research, instructional skills, and science education at the Pre-K to 12 and university levels. His popular books for educators include How the Brain Learns, third edition; How the Special Needs Brain Learns, second edition; How the Gifted Brain Learns; How the Brain Learns to Read; How the Brain Influences Behavior; and How the Brain Learns Mathematics, which was selected by the Independent Publishers’ Association as one of the best professional development books of 2008. The Leadership Brain suggests ways for educators to lead today’s schools more effectively.