T. William & Patricia Ayers:
Global Tipping Points -
The AI Future: Revolutionizing Global Higher Education (And Everything Else)
April 29, 2025
6:00PM
Paul J. LeBlanc Hall
Southern New Hampshire University
2500 N. River Road, Manchester, NH 03106
Artificial Intelligence is undoubtedly set to transform higher education on a global scale, reshaping how students learn, institutions operate, and knowledge is delivered. What does this revolution mean for the future of universities, educators, and students worldwide?
Join us for an in-depth conversation with Paul LeBlanc, former president of Southern New Hampshire University and co-founder of Human Systems, as we explore how AI is driving a fundamental shift in global higher education. From personalized learning and intelligent tutoring systems to the automation of administrative processes, AI presents both unprecedented opportunities and significant challenges for accessibility, equity, and the human connection in education.
This hybrid event is free and open to the public—join us in person or online for a thought-provoking discussion on the intersection of AI and education.
This is the second installment in our T. William and Patricia Ayers Global Tipping Point Series, "The AI Future".
About the Speaker
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Dr. Paul J. LeBlanc is the Board Chair for Human Systems, a new AI and Education company he co-founded with noted researcher George Siemens.
Until June 2024, he served as President of Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). He remains at SNHU as a researcher, writer, and advisor. Under the 20 years of Paul’s direction, SNHU has more grown from 2800 students to over 250,000 and is the largest non-profit provider of online higher education in the country, and the first to have a full competency-based degree program untethered to the credit hour or classes approved by a regional accreditor and the US Department of Education.
Paul is considered one of America’s most innovative educators. In 2012, the university was #12 on Fast Company magazine’s “World’s Fifty Most Innovative Companies” list and was the only university included. Forbes Magazine has listed him as one of its 15 “Classroom Revolutionaries” and Washington Monthly named him one of America’s ten most innovative university presidents.
In 2018, Paul won the prestigious IAA Institute Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence in Higher Education, joining some of the most respected university and college presidents in American higher education. He has also received the Ernest L. Boyer Award (NACU), the Distinguished Alumnus Award (AASCU), the Ray Schroeder Leadership Award (UPCEA), The Zemsky Medal (Penn), and the Alumnus of the Year Award from his alma mater, Framingham State University. He was named 2022 Citizen of the Year in his home city of Manchester, NH.
He is a frequently requested speaker internationally and often quoted in the media. He is the author of Students First: Equity, Access, and Opportunity in Higher Education (2021), winner of the 2022 Phillip E. Frandson Award for Literature, and Broken: How are Social Systems Are Failing Us and How We Can Fix Them (2022).
He served as Senior Policy Advisor to Under Secretary Ted Mitchell at the US Department of Education, working on competency-based education, new accreditation pathways, and innovation. He also served on the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and
Integrity (NACIQI), the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Board on Higher Education and Workforce, the AGB President’s Council, the NEASC (now NECHE) Commission, and the Board of the American Council on Education, which he chaired, as well as various corporate boards and advisory committees.
Paul stepped down from his presidency on June 30 , 2024 to lead Matter and Space, a new AI and Education start up funded by SNHU.
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