Welcoming Remarks
Redstone Theater 8:30AM
Gary Kesner
Executive Vice President
Silvercup Studios
Elizabeth Lusskin
President
Long Island City Partnership
Keynote Speaker:
Redstone Theater | 9:00AM - 9:30AM
Eric Benaim
Founder and CEO
Modern Spaces
Josh Schneps
Co-publisher/Founder and President
Schneps Communications/LIC Flea & Food
Martha Pollack
Cornell University
Martha E. Pollack is the fourteenth president of Cornell University and professor of computer science, information science, and
linguistics. She took office on April 17, 2017.
As president, she is committed to sustaining and enhancing Cornell’s academic distinction by building on its unique strengths as an Ivy
League and land grant university with exceptional breadth of expertise. She supports a culture of educational “verve,” investing in new,
evidence-based approaches to teaching and learning. She works to develop important synergies among and within Cornell’s campuses,
building on the vision of “One Cornell” and capitalizing on the complementary strengths of our urban and rural campuses. Among her
highest priorities is promoting Cornell’s founding commitment to diversity and egalitarianism, and fostering an inclusive community
whose members consistently seek to communicate effectively across difference.
Pollack was previously provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Michigan. She is a fellow of
the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the Association for the
Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. She earned a bachelor’s degree in linguistics at Dartmouth College and an M.S. and Ph.D. in
computer and information science at the University of Pennsylvania.