2008 Conference Speaker Bios & Photos

Jacob Adams, professor of education, Claremont Graduate University, and chair, the School Finance Redesign Project

Jacob Adams is a professor in the School of Educational Studies at Claremont Graduate University. Jacob came to CGU in 2006 from the University of Washington's Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs and, before that, from Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, where he also served as director of the graduate program in educational policy and chair of the Peabody College Faculty Council. Jacob's research focuses on the policy context of K-12 education, with particular attention to ways in which governance and finance policies and implementation practices influence school capacity. He directs the School Finance Redesign Project (schoolfinanceredesign.org), which explores ways to redesign education finance to better support today's higher ambitions for student performance.

Prior to his academic career, Jacob served in government positions at federal, state, and local levels, including the Committee on Ways & Means in the U.S. House of Representatives and the campaign and administrative staffs of California's former state superintendent, Bill Honig. He was the first associate director of Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), a research center at UC Berkeley and Stanford, and he served on national advisory boards for Standard & Poor's and the National Governors Association. Jacob chaired the boards of directors of the Kentucky Institute for Education Research and Abintra Montessori School (Nashville), and he served as consultant to the National Commission on Governing America's Schools and the National Forum on Accountability. Jacob holds degrees from Pitzer College (B.A., Political Studies), Claremont Graduate School (M.A., Public Policy Studies), and Stanford University (Ph.D., Education, Administration and Policy Analysis).

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Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former Governor of West Virginia

Governor Bob Wise, author of the forthcoming book Raising the Grade: How High School Reform Can Save Our Youth And Our Nation, became president of the Alliance for Excellent Education in February 2005. Under his leadership, the Alliance has continued to build its reputation as a respected authority on high school policy and to advocate for reform in America's secondary education system, working to ensure that all students graduate from high school prepared for success.

Since joining the Alliance, Governor Wise has become a sought-after speaker and advisor on education issues. He has advised the U.S. Department of Education and frequently testifies before the U.S. Congress.

As governor of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005, he fought for and signed legislation to fund the PROMISE Scholarship Program, which has helped thousands of West Virginia students remain in the Mountain State for college. Governor Wise also established a character education curriculum in all state schools and created the Governor's Helpline for Safer Schools. During his administration, West Virginia saw a significant increase in the number of students completing high school and entering college.

In 2001, Governor Wise proposed salary bonuses for teachers who achieve National Board certification, which helped triple the rate of certified teachers in the state. Additionally, Education Week's Quality Counts 2004 report gave West Virginia its highest cumulative grade of all fifty states. As governor, he was also the first West Virginian to chair the Southern Governors' Association.

From 1983 to 2001, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 2nd District of West Virginia. During his tenure, he worked aggressively to preserve federal financial aid for students to attend college. For several terms, he was a member of the Democratic Party Leadership team, as a regional whip and as a whip-at-large. Committee assignments during these eighteen years included Transportation and Infrastructure, Government Reform and Organization, and Budget. Among his notable Congressional accomplishments are the Chemical Right to Know legislation, the Wise Amendment to the Clean Air Act, and first-ever federal Mental Health Parity legislation.

Wise also serves on the Public Education Network's board of directors; the board of trustees of America's Promise; and is an advisory committee member for a number of organizations, among them the Campaign for Educational Equity, Editorial Projects in Education, the Bay Area Coalition For Equitable Schools, and the National High School Center, which is funded by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Office of Special Education Programs and housed at the American Institutes for Research. He also serves on the board of directors of C-Change, which works to eliminate cancer as a major public health risk at the earliest possible time.

Governor Wise earned a bachelor's degree from Duke University in 1970 and a J.D. from Tulane University College of Law in 1975. He recently earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He and wife Sandy live in Washington, DC with their two children.

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Dave Gonzales, senior vice-president, State Farm Insurance

Dave Gonzales is Senior Vice President for State Farm Insurance Companies in the Great Western Zone. He joined State Farm in 1980 as an auto company trainee in the Greeley, Colorado, office, where he was promoted to employment assistant and personnel specialist in 1981 and assistant personnel manager in 1982. He moved to corporate headquarters as an employment representative in 1984. Later that year he was named personnel manager in the Tempe, Arizona, office where he became a management assistant in 1988. He was appointed assistant division manager in the Dallas, Texas, office in 1989, auto division manager later that year, and fire division manager in 1990.

Dave was named executive assistant at corporate headquarters in 1992 and was elected Deputy Regional Vice President in the Bakersfield, California, office in January 1994. He was named VP-Operations at Corporate Headquarters in 1998, and Regional Vice President in Arizona in 2000.

Dave has served on many community and higher learning institution boards. He is an alum of Southern California Leadership and is a director on the State Farm General Company board.

A native of Colorado, Dave received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley. He earned the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation in 1987.

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William Schmidt, University Distinguished Professor, Michigan State University

William H. Schmidt received his undergraduate degree in mathematics from Concordia College in River Forrest, IL and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in psychometrics and applied statistics. He carries the title of University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University and is currently co director of the Education Policy Center, co director of the US China Center for Research and co director of the NSF PROM/SE project and holds faculty appointments in the Departments of Educational Psychology and Statistics. Previously he served as National Research Coordinator and Executive Director of the US National Center which oversaw participation of the United States in the IEA sponsored Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).

He has published in numerous journals including the Journal of the American Statistical Association, Journal of Educational Statistics, and the Journal of Educational Measurement. He has co-authored seven books, including Why Schools Matter. His current writing and research concerns issues of academic content in K-12 schooling, assessment theory and the effects of curriculum on academic achievement. He is also concerned with educational policy related to mathematics, science and testing in general. He was awarded the Honorary Doctorate Degree at Concordia University in 1997 and received the 1998 Willard Jacobson Lectureship from The New York Academy of Sciences and is a member of the National Academy of Education.

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Kati Haycock, president of The Education Trust

Kati Haycock is one of the nation's leading child advocates in the field of Education.

She currently serves as President of The Education Trust. Established in 1990, the Trust does what no other Washington-based education organization seeks to do: speaks up for what's right for young people, especially those who are poor or members of minority groups. The Trust also provides hands-on assistance to urban school districts and universities that want to work together to improve student achievement, kindergarten through college.

Before coming to The Education Trust, Haycock served as Executive Vice President of the Children's Defense Fund, the nation's largest child advocacy organization.

A Native Californian, Haycock founded and served as President of The Achievement Council, a statewide organization that provides assistance to teachers and principals in predominantly minority schools in improving student achievement. Before that, she served as Director of the Outreach and Student Affirmative Action programs for the nine-campus University of California system.