Keynote Speaker 2012:

Howard Schneider
Dean of the School of Journalism

Howard Schneider is the founding dean of the School of Journalism at Stony Brook University, spearheading the team that developed the proposal for SUNY’s first School of Journalism. For more than 35 years. Schneider was a reporter and editor at Newsday. For nearly 18 of those years, he was managing editor and then editor.

Under his tenure, the paper won eight Pulitzer Prizes in categories including investigative reporting deadline reporting, arts criticism, specialized beat reporting and foreign affairs reporting. Under his leadership, Newsday was among the first newspapers in the country to create news websites; he also led efforts to introduce TV and radio into what had been an all-print newsroom.

At Stony Brook, Schneider helped develop the nation’s first course in News Literacy, which seeks to have undergraduates across all disciplines study how to become discerning news consumers. The course has subsequently spread to universities around the nation. He is the executive director of the school’s Center for News Literacy. He also collaborated with the actor Alan Alda in launching the country’s first Center for Communicating Science, which is housed in the journalism school, and which trains future and current scientists on how to communicate more effectively with the public.

Keynote Speaker 2011:

David Krause, PhD
Distinguished Service Professor, Stony Brook University
Founder and Executive Director, Madagascar Ankizy Fund

Dr. Krause is a renowned paleontologist who has led expeditions all over the world in the search for the fossilized remains of ancient creatures. His research in Madagascar, one of the most impoverished countries in the world, led him to interact with the local peoples and, ultimately, to establish The Madagascar Ankizy Fund. The mission of the organization is to build schools and provide temporary clinics for children living in remote areas of the country.