Speaker Bios

Ted Mitchell, PhD
President
American Council on Education

Dr. Ted Mitchell has served as president of the American Council on Education (ACE), the major coordinating body for the nation’s colleges and universities, since September 2017. Mitchell and his team work closely with Congress, the executive branch, and the private sector to develop policies and innovative practices that serve our country’s postsecondary learners.

Mitchell’s leadership of ACE and the entire higher education community is informed by a career committed to increasing access to high-quality education and improving outcomes for all students. Mitchell served in the Obama administration as U.S. under secretary of education from 2014 to 2017 and was responsible for all postsecondary education policies, such as initiatives focused on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, minority serving institutions, and federal student aid. Mitchell and his team at the Department of Education (ED) reinstated Pell Grants for incarcerated adults, created the College Scorecard, and restored millions of dollars to students who were defrauded by their institutions. Before joining ED, Mitchell served in a variety of higher education leadership roles, including as president of Occidental College (1999–2005); vice chancellor and dean at the University of California, Los Angeles; professor and department chair at Dartmouth College; and a member of the Stanford University Board of Trustees.

Mitchell has also been a leader in K–12 education. He served as chief executive officer of the NewSchools Venture Fund—a venture philanthropy that invests in K–12 innovation to support low-income students, schools, and communities—and as president of the California State Board of Education. Throughout his career, Mitchell has worked to create an educational system that serves the goals of excellence, equity, and social justice.

Mitchell is a current board member of Coursera, Khan Academy, Occidental College, TIAA, Education Quality Outcomes Standards Board, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, and Credential Engine.

Mitchell received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as his PhD, from Stanford University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Aaron E. Carroll, MD, MS
President and CEO
AcademyHealth

Dr. Aaron E. Carroll is President and CEO of AcademyHealth. A nationally recognized thought leader, science communicator, pediatrician, and health services researcher, he is a passionate advocate for the creation and use of evidence to improve health and health care for all.

Before joining AcademyHealth, Dr. Carroll was a Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Chief Health Officer at Indiana University, where he also served as Associate Dean for Research Mentoring and the director of the Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Comparative Effectiveness Research at Indiana University School of Medicine. He earned a B.A. in chemistry from Amherst College, an MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and an M.S. in health services from the University of Washington School of Public Health, where he was also a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar.

Dr. Carroll’s research focused on the study of information technology to improve pediatric care, decision analysis, and areas of health policy including cost-effectiveness of care and health care financing reform. He is the author of The Bad Food Bible and the co-author of three additional books on medical myths. In addition to having been a regular contributor to The New York Times and The Atlantic, he has written for many other major media outlets and is co-Editor-in-Chief at The Incidental Economist, an evidence-based health policy blog. He also has a popular YouTube channel and podcast called Healthcare Triage, where he talks about health research and health policy.

Kathleen Reeves, MD
President and CEO
The Arnold P. Gold Foundation

Dr. Kathleen Reeves is the President and CEO of The Arnold P. Gold Foundation, the leading national nonprofit organization that champions humanism in healthcare. She is also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Urban Health and Population Science, the Center for Urban Bioethics, and the Department of Pediatrics at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. Her specialties include the human connection in healthcare, ethics, trauma-informed care, substance misuse, urban health, healthcare professions education, and health equity.

She spent 20 years at the Katz School of Medicine before taking the helm of the Gold Foundation. Her leadership positions there included Founding Director, Center for Urban Bioethics; Chair, Department of Urban Health and Population Science; Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs; and inaugural Senior Associate Dean for the Office of Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. She is a Gold Humanism Honor Society member and was previously recognized as an Honorable Mention for the Gold Foundation’s Pearl Hurwitz Humanism in Healthcare Award.

Dr. Reeves earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Juniata College, graduated from the Sidney Kimmel College of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University, and completed her Pediatric Residency at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She is board certified in both general pediatrics and pediatric hospital medicine and continues to practice as a pediatric hospitalist. She has served in the leadership team as part of the Northeast Group on Student Affairs within the American Association of Medical Colleges.

Dr. Reeves resides outside of Philadelphia with her husband, Edisio, who is a practicing pediatric gastroenterologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. They have two children, Ben and Ann.

Guy David, PhD
Professor of Health Care Management
University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Guy David is the Alan B. Miller Professor of Health Care Management at the Wharton School and the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; he is the chair of the Health Care Management Department at Wharton; a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research; and the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Health Economics and Management.

Prof. David received his BA and MA in Economics from Tel Aviv University, and his PhD in Business Economics from the University of Chicago. He has published numerous peer reviewed articles on competition in health care markets, evaluation of policies towards nonprofit providers, industrial organization and regulation of post-acute care, the economics and organization of emergency medical services, the division of labor along the care continuum, nursing turnover, patient-centered medical care, retainer-based medicine, medical technology disadoption, data-analytics-driven disease management, and the link between direct-to-consumer advertising and drug safety.
 
Prof. David teaches undergraduate, MBA, Executive MBA, and PhD courses in Health Economics and Health Care Delivery at Wharton. He leads Wharton’s Healthcare Leadership and Management executive education program, as well as two global modular courses taught internationally. 

Ayanna Howard, PhD
Monte Ahuja Endowed Dean, College of Engineering
The Ohio State University

Dr. Ayanna Howard currently serves as the Dean of the College of Engineering at The Ohio State University where she is also a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Department of Computer Science and Engineering. As the director of the nation’s first multidisciplinary robotics PhD program, her research encompasses advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), assistive technologies, and robotics. Her distinguished and varied career includes more than a decade of service at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory where she held multiple roles, including senior robotics researcher and deputy manager in the Office of the Chief Scientist.

Molly McCarthy, MBA, RN
Former Chief Nurse Officer, Microsoft
Upcoming Technology Advisor and Howley Family Visiting Professor of Healthcare, Villanova University

Molly McCarthy is a seasoned healthcare executive who has worked to harness the power of artificial intelligence and technology to positively transform health. She has served as the Chief Nurse Officer at Microsoft where she led a team of subject matter experts from across the US to help both healthcare providers and health plan organizations transform digitally. Molly is currently a health technology advisor and strategist for several companies, from early-stage start-ups to global organizations. She will soon commence a one-year stint as Technology Advisor and Howley Family Visiting Professor of Healthcare for the Villanova University School of Nursing.