education

Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) was a British mathematician and philosopher known for his early work in mathematical logic and his later development of process philosophy. Born in Ramsgate, Kent, he studied mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge, and remained there as a fellow and lecturer for more than two decades, teaching and publishing on algebra, geometry, and the foundations of mathematics. His most consequential early achievement was Principia Mathematica, written with his former student Bertrand Russell and published in three volumes between 1910 and 1913. The work attempted to derive the whole of mathematics from a small set of logical axioms, and it became one of the central texts of twentieth-century logic, shaping subsequent debates in the philosophy of mathematics even where its technical program was later challenged by Gödel's incompleteness results. In 1910 Whitehead left Cambridge for London, where he taught at University College London and then Imperial College, and where his interests broadened from mathematics into the philosophy of science and education. He wrote on the concepts of space, time, and matter in relativity theory, proposing his own alternative account of relativity distinct from Einstein's, and he served on commissions concerned with the reform of secondary and university education, arguing against rote learning in favor of teaching ideas in their living connections. In 1924, at age sixty-three, Whitehead moved to Harvard University, where he spent the rest of his academic career and produced the metaphysical works for which he is best known, including Science and the Modern World (1925) and Process and Reality (1929). These books developed what came to be called process philosophy, which treats reality as composed of events of becoming rather than fixed substances, and which assigns value, experience, and a kind of creativity to the basic constituents of nature. Process and Reality also includes an account of God as a factor within the cosmic process rather than an unchanging sovereign outside it, an idea that later gave rise to process theology as a distinct field. Whitehead's influence has been most durable in philosophy of science, metaphysics, and theology, particularly through process theologians who built on his account of God and creativity, and his work on education and the unity of knowledge continues to be cited in discussions of curriculum and pedagogy. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1947.

Cynthia Bailey is a lecturer in computer science at Stanford University. A dedicated educator, her research focuses on best practices in computer science education, with a particular emphasis on promoting inclusiveness in the tech industry. She is known for her thoughtful and well-researched contributions to discussions surrounding women in technology and the queer community. Beyond her work in computer science, Cynthia Bailey has been actively engaged in exploring the intersection of Mormonism and modern life. For a time she blogged about Mormon life on By Common Consent , providing insights and perspectives on faith in a contemporary context. Her presentation at the Sunstone West 2016 highlighted her interest in bringing together her professional expertise and her engagement with Mormon themes, specifically addressing the underrepresentation of women in technology within the Mormon community and exploring the potential of gospel principles in empowering girls’ coding initiatives. Cynthia resides in Palo Alto. She is esteemed for her quiet dedication to life-altering ideas, community building, and insightful contributions to discussions related to technology, social issues, and faith.

David Henry Fowler was an American educator, writer, and civic leader in the state of Utah, known for his decades of service in public education and his editorial contributions to early twentieth-century Latter-day Saint periodical literature. Born on May 8, 1879, in Hooper, Weber County, Utah, Fowler was the son of Samuel Fowler and Rachel Taylor. He was raised in a pioneer Latter-day Saint household during a formative period in Utah’s territorial and early statehood history, and from an early age demonstrated an aptitude for study that would shape the trajectory of his life’s work. In 1906, Fowler was called to serve a proselytizing mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Northern States Mission. His capabilities as a writer and communicator were soon recognized, and he was transferred to the mission headquarters in Independence, Missouri, where he was appointed Associate Editor of Liahona, the Elders’ Journal . This publication—one of the principal periodicals serving missionaries and members outside the Intermountain West—provided doctrinal instruction, mission news, and devotional literature to a wide readership. Fowler’s editorial labors placed him among a small circle of early twentieth-century Latter-day Saint writers helping to amplify the voice of the Church during a period of expanding national presence. Fowler pursued higher education at the University of Utah, completing his degree in 1919. His academic pursuits translated directly into a career in public education, where he rose to serve as both a high school principal and a superintendent of schools in Emery and Summit counties, Utah. In these roles, Fowler shaped the educational foundations of two rural communities at a formative moment in Utah’s development as a state, helping to build institutional structures that would serve generations of students. Fowler’s career reflected a lifelong conviction that education, faith, and community progress were inseparable. As an administrator, he worked to extend the reach of secondary schooling into communities whose economic realities often competed with classroom attendance, and as a writer and editor he helped articulate the intellectual and spiritual aspirations of his religious tradition for a dispersed readership.

Jon Cheney is the Founder and CEO of the General AI Proficiency Institute (GenAIPI), an organization he launched in early 2025 to protect human agency, adaptability, and ownership in the age of AI. A software executive and lifelong technologist, Jon has spent more than two decades building technology companies and leading teams through digital transformation. Through GenAIPI, he works with organizations across industries as a fractional Chief AI Officer, installing internal AI capability rather than dependence⁠—training leaders and teams to choose creation over consumption. He is widely recognized as a leading voice on AI leadership and human agency, and writes and speaks frequently on the conviction that the greatest risk of the AI era is not job loss, but the loss of what makes us human.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841–1935) was an American jurist and legal scholar who served on the United States Supreme Court from 1902 to 1932. Born in Boston, he was the son of the physician and writer Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. He graduated from Harvard College in 1861, served as a Union officer during the Civil War, and was wounded three times. After the war, he studied at Harvard Law School and entered legal practice in Boston. Holmes combined practice with editing, teaching, and scholarship. In The Common Law (1881), he examined the historical development of legal rules and argued that experience, social conditions, and practical judgments shape the law. He briefly held a professorship at Harvard Law School before joining the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1882. He became its chief justice in 1899. President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him to the United States Supreme Court in 1902. His judicial opinions helped shape debates about constitutional interpretation, legislative authority, and freedom of speech. His dissent in Lochner v. New York (1905) opposed imposing a particular economic theory through constitutional adjudication. His later free-speech dissents, including Abrams v. United States (1919), influenced the development of stronger protections for political expression. His writing also contributed to the intellectual foundations of American legal realism. Holmes's record includes decisions that severely restricted individual rights. In Buck v. Bell (1927), he wrote the majority opinion upholding Virginia's compulsory sterilization law, lending judicial authority to eugenics and its coercive treatment of disabled people. His legacy therefore encompasses both influential arguments for intellectual freedom and grave failures to protect vulnerable individuals. He retired in 1932 and died in Washington, D.C., in 1935.