On Wednesday, January 13, the Atlanta Chapter was pleased to welcome Dr. Richard A. DeMillo, the Charlotte B. and Roger C. Warren Professor of Computing and Professor of Management, former John P. Imlay Dean of Computing, and Director of the Center for 21st Century Universities at the Georgia Institute of Technology (and husband of member Ronnie Martin) as luncheon speaker at their General Membership Meeting where he spoke about his new book Revolution in Higher Education: How a Small Band of Innovators will make College Accessible and Affordable.

Affordable access to quality higher education has been a cornerstone of American life since the nation’s founding. American higher education is admired around the world as a model of excellence and innovation, but there is a consensus today that higher education in the U.S. is not on a sustainable path. DeMillo's books Abelard to Apple and Revolution in Higher Education (both from MIT Press) chronicle the events that led to the current state of affairs and describe an optimistic but much changed ecosystem for higher education.

There are no simple solutions to the problems plaguing colleges and universities. A small band of innovators has taken up the challenge, launched a revolution and has started to remake higher education. The result will be a new, more sustainable ecosystem. Technology holds the key to innovation in higher education. DeMillo described the world that the innovators are building, using as an example the innovation ecosystem pioneered at Georgia Tech powered by online education, business reinvention and a willingness to disrupt the status quo. What will the University of the 21st Century Look like? DeMillo predicts that it will be very different from the ones we attended.