Panel featuring Dr. Ben Sasse, former President of the University of Florida and former U.S. Senator from Nebraska; Dr. R Gerald Turner, President of SMU; and Dr. Melva Wallace, President and CEO of Huston-Tillotson University, moderated by Robin Berkley, the Ann Kimball Johnson Director of Education at the Bush Institute.
Colleges and universities are vital in preparing young adults to contribute to society while benefiting from the free exchange of ideas with their classmates and faculty. Current and former university presidents will discuss the role of higher education within American democracy.
Dr. Ben Sasse is a former U.S. Senator from Nebraska and former President of the University of Florida and the University of Midland in Nebraska. He is a two-time New York Times bestselling author for The Vanishing American Adult and Them: Why We Hate Each Other – and How to Heal. In the Senate, he focused on the future of work, national security, and the First Amendment. A historian, he has won teaching awards and holds a Ph.D. from Yale, where he won both the Egleston and Theron Rockwell Field best dissertation prizes. He stresses the need to rebuild local community and thicker, Tocquevillian institutions to help Americans navigate the digital revolution.
Dr. R. Gerald Turner has been President of SMU since 1995. Under his leadership, SMU has ranked in the top 20 percent of the best national universities by U.S. News & World Report, with three of its graduate programs in the Top 50. He has served on the boards of the Dallas Citizens Council, the American Council on Education and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and co-chaired the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for nearly 10 years. He also serves on the boards of the Methodist Health System Foundation and the Salvation Army of North
Dr. Melva Wallace is President and CEO of Huston-Tillotson University, a historically Black university in Austin, Texas, where she has boosted fundraising, increased student enrollment, and sparked a surge in online learning opportunities. She is a 2016 Presidential Leadership Scholar and is a board member for organizations including Centenary College of Louisiana, Christus Shumpert Hospital, Ballet Austin, and Austin PBS. She is also Board President for Extensions of Excellence and founding board member of the Higher Education Leadership Foundation, which has trained over 500 HBCU leaders across the nation. In 2023, the United Negro College Fund honored her as one of the top women presidents in the nation, and Austin Business Journal named her one of Texas’ 100 most influential professionals.
Robin Berkley is the Ann Kimball Johnson Director of Education at the George W. Bush Institute, where she develops and oversees education research and policy work. She has spent over two decades focused on improving opportunities for children and families. She was previously Executive Director of Horton’s Kids, which worked with under-resourced children and families in Washington, D.C., and held leadership roles at the Texas Education Agency and consulting firm EduationCounsel.
