Reimagining the Meadow Brook Seminars coming January 30

Oakland University founder and philanthropist Matilda Dodge Wilson hosted the original Meadow Brook Seminars participants in 1958-59 to help create a direction for Oakland County’s first four-year university as it turned from an idea into a reality.

Today, current OU President Ora Hirsch Pescovitz is bringing back a Meadow Brook Seminar “Reimagined” as an event that will help refine what education by 2025 standards will look like for OU students and graduates going into the workforce.

Both women, some 65 years apart, encouraged a gathering that would help chart the course of higher education for OU, and for the region, the nation, and the world.

On January 30, 2025, the past and the present meet up at Meadow Brook Hall, the iconic Great Estate mansion of Matilda Dodge Wilson on Oakland University’s campus, during the Meadow Brook Seminars Reimagined.

The event will consist of a private two-hour morning session among academic and industry thought leaders from around the country and a two-hour, live broadcast open to the public that will be moderated by David Jesse, a senior writer at The Chronicle for Higher Education. The day will prove to be an exciting educational opportunity where these leaders will discuss and stake out new ideas that will impact the future direction of higher education.

The public is invited to join virtually via a livestream of the Meadow Brook Seminar Reimagined from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the following Zoom link:

https://oakland-edu.zoom.us/j/97017811380?pwd=4lxX6FXkF1mjbVSMAyjcLZYHPx5Rua.1

 
Meadow Brook Seminars Reimagined, January 30, 2025

Confirmed Guests

• Amy Shelton - Director, Center for Talented Youth, Johns Hopkins University
• Eddie Watson - Vice-President of Digital Innovation at the AAC&U
• Steve Spreitzer - Co-Executive Director, Michigan Roundtable for Just Communities
• David Jesse - Senior Writer, The Chronicle of Higher Education - moderator of the formal discussion
• Victor Taylor - Vice-President, Graduate Education & Extended Studies, South Dakota State University; Editor, Leadership in Higher Education Series (Parlor Press) 
• Sheilah Clay – President, Purposeful Consulting; formerly CEO of the NSO; formerly Executive Director, Community Health Corps, Detroit
• Ora Pescovitz - President, Oakland University; Chair Elect, American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)
• Ken Gutman – Superintendent, Oakland Schools
• Kimberley Leverette - Interim Superintendent, School District of the City of Pontiac 
• Kathy McMahon - former Director, Vehicle Safety Performance Integration/Infotainment & Telematics, General Motors (GM)
• Judith F. Dolkart - Deputy Director, Detroit Institute of Arts
• Kevin Corcoran - Interim Provost, Oakland University
• Graeme Harper - Dean of The Honors College, Oakland University
• Dave Dulio - Director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Oakland University, and Distinguished Professor of Political Science
• Gregg Garrett – CEO, CGS Advisors; formerly Chief Strategy Officer for IT & Innovation at Volkswagen Group of America
• OU Student - Cecilia Matti, (Psychology, Pre-Law)
• OU Student - William Jenkins, (Computer Science)

The event is co-led by Graeme Harper, Dean of the Honors College and resident OU Historian and Interim Provost Kevin Corcoran, who formerly served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and oversaw community engagement for Oakland University.

Here is a little history leading up to this year’s event.

A Legacy Reimagined

The 1958-1959 Meadow Brook Seminars convened leaders such as Dr. Milton Eisenhower (President, Johns Hopkins University), Dr. Sarah Blanding (President, Vassar College), Henry R. Luce (Editor-in-Chief, Time Inc.), Dr. Ralph Tyler (Stanford), and General Motors President John F. Gordon, among many notable others from around the nation, to discuss how higher education could be reimagined for a changing world. Their discussions examined how colleges could empower individuals, communities, and the economy; and they also helped shape the foundations of Oakland University, built right here on the Meadow Brook estate.

The Vision Continues
Now, we are reigniting that same spirit of bold innovation and transformative dialogue with insight from today’s remarkable participants - from higher education, industry, AI, innovation, entrepreneurship, community wellness, and workforce development. The Meadow Brook Seminar participants will again gather at Meadow Brook Hall to explore the future of higher education, continuing a legacy that will help sharpen our educational focus, ensuring that education remains innovative, inclusive, and impactful.

The Meadow Brook Seminars on Higher Education

Original Guests from 1958-59 included:

• Sarah G. Blanding - President, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York
• Henry Steele Commager - Professor of History and American Studies, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts
• Milton S. Eisenhower - President, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
• Henry R. Luce - Editor-in-Chief, Time, Inc., New York City, New York
• Ralph W. Tyler - Director, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California
• Samuel M. Brownell - Superintendent of Public Schools, Detroit, Michigan
• Henry T. Heald - President and Director of The Ford Foundation, New York City 
• John F. Gordon - President, General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Michigan
• Henry H. Hill - President, George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tennessee
• Francis Keppel - Dean of Faculty of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Ernest O. Melby - Distinguished Professor of Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
• Carroll V. Newsom - President, New York University, New York City, New York
• Dean George L. Bach - Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• William H. Coleman - President and Director, Twin Coach Company, Kent, Ohio
• Theodore V. Houser - Chairman, Board of Directors, Sears, Roebuck & Company, Chicago, Illinois
• Frank C. Pierson - Professor, Department of Economics, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
• Erwin H. Schell - Professor Emeritus and Lecturer, School of Industrial Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Eric A. WaIker - President, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
• C. Richard Soderberg - Dean of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Lee A. DuBridge - President, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
• Newman Hall - Professor and Chairman of Mechanical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
• Frederick E. Terman - Dean of Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California