June 14, 2019

Levine Lectures on Future of Education

Arthur Levine Delivers 2019 Simon Initiative Distinguished Lecture

By Michael Henninger 

Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, delivered the 2019 Simon Initiative Distinguished Lecture in the Simmons Auditorium of the Tepper Building in March.

The lecture, titled “The Future of Higher Education: Three Forces with the Capacity to Transform America's Colleges and Universities,” presented Levine’s perspective on the effects of America’s changing demographics, economics and technology. Levine cautioned that the disruptive changes occurring in present-day society haven’t been seen since the Industrial Revolution.

“One of the consequences of this kind of change is that all of our social institutions – it’s not just colleges, it’s government, it’s healthcare, it’s media – all appear to be broken,” Levine said. “They were all built for a different time, and they don’t work as well as they once did.”

Carnegie Mellon University Provost James Garrett introduced Levine and the Simon Lecture Series, named for the late CMU Nobel Laureate and Turing Award-winning professor Herbert Simon.

“Simon was an esteemed scientist, researcher, CMU faculty member, and founding father of several of today’s most important scientific domains, including artificial intelligence,” Garrett said. “His impact on the worlds of science and economics and also on our university’s own academic mission is far-reaching and unparalleled.”

Levine remarked on Simon’s legacy in his lecture.

“It’s an extraordinary honor to give a lecture in Herbert Simon’s name,” Levine said. “I’m an organizational sociologist. And there aren’t many figures who are of greater importance or who have made larger contributions to my field than him.”

During his talk, Levine said that changes in demography, economy and technology would demand changes in higher education. Initially colleges will be able to respond by adaptation, but eventually adaptation won’t be enough.

“I really do applaud the Simon Initiative,” Levine said. “I think it really charts direction that higher education needs to move in the years ahead. In terms of its interdisciplinary focus, and its focus on learning.”

Watch Levine’s lecture here, in which he proffered that Carnegie Mellon could be the leader of a modern educational revolution.

Watch a video of Levine's lecture