Fourteen Educational Innovators Honored and Inducted into the Minerva Academy

SAN FRANCISCO, March 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship today announced the induction of fourteen educational innovators to the Minerva Academy, an honorary institution dedicated to promoting and rewarding extraordinary advancements and innovation in higher education teaching around the world. The newly inducted honorees' are honored for their contributions and innovative thinking in the area of teaching excellence. Their backgrounds range from law to psychology to engineering and include award-winning authors, researchers and policy leaders.  They join Nobel Laureate Dr. Roger Kornberg, Governor of the Minerva Academy, as founding members of the Academy.

"Welcoming these distinguished educators as founding members of the Minerva Academy is a way to honor and recognize their contributions and accomplishments in teaching innovation," said Dr. Roger Kornberg. "I look forward to working with my esteemed colleagues to award the Minerva Prize later this spring, recognizing an educator who has made a significant impact through major innovation in higher education."

The newly inducted Minerva Academy members include:

• Dr. Lloyd Armstrong, Provost Emeritus and University Professor of Education and of Physics, University of Southern California
• Dr. Ken Bain, President, Best Teachers Institute
• Dr. Derek Bok, 300th Anniversary University Research Professor, Professor of Law, and University President Emeritus, Harvard University
• Dr. Cathy Davidson, Ruth F. DeVarney Professor of English and the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Duke University
• Dr. Al Filreis, Kelly Family Professor of English, Director, Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing, Faculty Director, and Kelly Writers House, University of Pennsylvania
• Dr. Diane Halpern, Dean of the College of Social Sciences, Minerva Schools at KGI
• Dr. Stephen Kosslyn, Founding Dean, Minerva Schools at KGI
• Dr. Daniel Levitin, Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, Minerva Schools at KGI
• Dr. Eric Mazur, Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics and Dean of Applied Physics, Harvard University
• Dr. Roger Schank, founder and CEO, Socratic Arts and XTOL
• Dr. Sheri Sheppard, Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
• Dr. Lee Shulman, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus, Stanford University; President Emeritus, Carnegie Foundation
• Dr. Jennifer Summit, Professor of English, Stanford University
• Dr. Daniel Willingham, Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia

Dedicated to promoting, recognizing and rewarding extraordinary advancements in higher education, the Minerva Academy provides a forum for the open exchange of new ideas and practical improvements in instruction. Members of the Academy will select the winner of the $500,000 Minerva Prize for Advancements in Higher Education. The first Minerva Prize winner will be announced in May 2014.

About Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship
The Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship is a non-profit that attracts and directs financial support towards academic programs for Minerva students and cutting-edge research for Minerva faculty. Led by Executive Chairman Bob Kerrey, the Minerva Institute is committed to providing exceptional education experiences to deserving students while also enabling the advancement of faculty research. The Minerva Institute houses the Minerva Academy, an honorary institution dedicated to promoting and rewarding extraordinary advancements and innovation in higher education teaching around the world. Nobel Laureate Dr. Roger Kornberg leads the Minerva Academy. For more information please visit: www.minervaproject.com/institute/

SOURCE Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship