Travel Expert and Author
Rick Steves is a popular public television host, a best-selling guidebook author, and an outspoken activist who encourages Americans to broaden their perspectives through travel. But above all else, Rick considers himself a teacher. He taught his first travel class at his college campus in the mid-1970s — and now, more than 40 years later, he still measures his success not by dollars earned, but by trips impacted.
Rick is the founder and owner of Rick Steves' Europe, a travel business with a small-group tour program that brings more than 30,000 people to Europe annually. Each year, the company contributes to a portfolio of climate-smart nonprofits, essentially paying a self-imposed carbon tax. He also supports and works closely with many advocacy groups and has been instrumental in the legalization of marijuana in states across the country.
Rick spends about four months a year in Europe, researching guidebooks, fine-tuning his tour program, filming his TV show, and making new discoveries for travelers. To recharge, he plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade mountains, and spends time with his son Andy and daughter Jackie. He lives and works in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington, where his office window overlooks his old junior high school.
Teaching and Learning Consultant at the Auburn University Office of International Programs Professor Emeritus of Higher Education at Auburn University
Dr. James E. Groccia is a Teaching and Learning Consultant at the Auburn University Office of International Programs and Professor Emeritus of Higher Education at Auburn University. He was a Visiting Professor in the Institute of Educational Sciences at the University of Tartu in Estonia from 2014-2024. A former President of the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network, James was the founding director of Auburn’s Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Prior to this he was Assistant Dean of the Graduate School and Director of the Program for Excellence in Teaching at the University of Missouri from 1996 to 2003 and Founding Director of the Center for Curricular Innovation and Educational Development at Worcester Polytechnic Institute from 1984 to 1996.
James is the author/co-author/co-editor of numerous book chapters and journal articles and 11 books on teaching, learning and higher education. Together with his International Program colleagues he has co-edited two special topic issues of the New Directions for Teaching and Learning journal entitled “International Perspectives on University Teaching and Learning” (Wiley, 2022) and the soon to be published “International Perspectives on University Teaching and Learning: Continuing Conversations.” James was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Tartu (2011-12) and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the American University in Cairo in 2014. James has presented at conferences, consulted, and conducted workshops throughout the US as well as in Ecuador, Egypt, England, Estonia, Ghana, Hungary, Ireland, Germany, Scotland, Japan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, and Yakutia, Siberia. His keynote presentation, Moving from Scholarly Teaching to a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: A Global Imperative, represents a synthesis of his writings and presentations suggesting an evidence-based process for enhancing world-wide higher education teaching and learning.
Executive Director of the Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning
Asim Ali, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Biggio Center at Auburn University, where he advances professional development programs and resources to enhance academic innovation and support scholarly and creative activities. Prior to this role, he served as Founding Director of Auburn Online. Asim earned a bachelor’s in software engineering, a master’s in information systems management, and a doctorate in adult education from Auburn University. Asim co-leads work on artificial intelligence to build capacity for understanding and implementing AI. He has modeled the implementation of generative AI in the Introduction to Information Systems Management course he teaches for the Harbert Business School. Asim also co-leads innovative initiatives for micro-credentials and AR/VR. Asim serves as president-elect of UPCEA, the online and professional education association. He has been an invited keynote speaker and presenter nationally and internationally at conferences and universities.
International Perspectives on University Teaching & Learning Symposium
June 23-25 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort
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