Advisory Board
UEE's advisory board takes an active role in UEE’s programmatic and strategic planning. The advisors provide a valuable “outsider’s” point of view to strengthen the organization and its services.
Dave Levin
After graduating from Yale University, Mr. Levin joined Teach for America where he taught 5th grade in Houston, Texas, for three years. In 1994, he co-founded the Knowledge is Power Program with Mike Feinberg, and the next year went on to found KIPP Academy New York. Mr. Levin currently serves as Superintendent of KIPP New York, and serves on the Board of Directors of KIPP Foundation. He received the Robin Hood Foundation's John F. Kennedy Jr. Hero Award in Education in 1999, was appointed to the New York State Commission for Education Reform in 2003, was named an Ashoka Fellow in 1994, awarded to leading social entrepreneurs with innovative solutions and the potential to change patterns across society, and along with Mike Feinberg was awarded The Thomas B. Fordham Prize for Excellence in Education and the National Jefferson Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen in 2006.
David Rea
Mr. Rea began working with UEE as a technical advisor in 2001, and now contributes to UEE’s strategic planning as well. Mr. Rea studied educational technology at Harvard University, where he holds a Masters Degree in Education, and at the MIT Media Lab. He has broad experience combining technology and education initiatives, including technical direction of the NSF-funded Physics 2000 Project and two years teaching computer science at Phillips Exeter Academy. Most recently he served as the Director of Technology Assessment at private equity firm General Atlantic, providing strategic and tactical guidance on technology issues.
Albert Wenger
Albert Wenger is a partner at Union Square Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm based in New York City that specializes in internet start-up companies. UVS is a principal investor in the social networking website Twitter. Mr. Wenger combines over ten years of entrepreneurial experience with a significant background in internet technology. As an entrepreneur he has founded or co-founded five companies, including an early-stage investment firm and a technology subsidiary for Telebanc (now E*Tradebank). At the age of age 18, Mr. Wenger won the German national computer science competition. He graduated from Harvard College, summa cum laude, with a bachelor’s degree in economics and computer science, and he holds a Ph.D. in Information Technology from MIT.
Dr. Joanna Williams
Dr. Williams has been a valued advisor to UEE since 2003. She is a professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University, and internationally renowned for her research on linguistic, cognitive and perceptual bases of reading development. She was a member of the National Reading Panel, a body commissioned by Congress to identify the most effective ways to teach children to read. She is a past editor of the Journal of Educational Psychology and the founding editor of Scientific Studies of Reading. She has also received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Oscar S. Causey Award for Outstanding Contributions to Reading Research from the National Reading Conference. Dr. Williams advises UEE on our curriculum – specifically, refining our Concepts of Comprehension© and the lessons and resources that support instruction.
