“I’d like to re‑imagine education.”
I said those words on the TEDGlobal stage in 2013, a year after founding edX alongside Harvard and MIT. At the time, online learning was still a novel idea. We believed we could use emerging technologies to rethink the traditional education model, expand access to education, and improve learning outcomes.
Since then, online education has become more mainstream and scaled rapidly across every level, accelerated by broader access to technology and a global pandemic that reshaped how we learn and work. At the same time, there’s been a greater emphasis on lifelong learning as an economic necessity. And that’s what edX was built to support.
Today, we stand at another inflection point: AI. Back in that 2013 TED talk, I noted that education had seen little fundamental change over the previous 500 years and pointed to the printing press as one of the last truly transformative moments. AI represents a similarly profound shift.
AI has the potential to make learning more personalized, more engaging and more accessible than ever before. It can help educators teach in entirely new ways. The possibilities are extraordinary, and I find this moment incredibly energizing.
That is why I’m excited to share that I am beginning a new chapter. I am transitioning from my role as Chief Academic Officer at 2U, remaining as Senior Advisor, edX to support the company’s next chapter of growth and ensure a smooth transition to our new Executive Director of edX, Adrian Norman.
I will also become CEO at Grady, exploring the intersection of learning, teaching, and AI. What drew me in is the tech and who built it: two faculty members who understand what is at stake when a student's work is assessed. I tried Grady on some of my own MIT assignments and was blown away by the grading quality. After a career widening access to education, I am thrilled to focus on a specific area that improves it.
As I reflect on my journey, I am incredibly proud of what we’ve built at edX. What began as a startup on the Harvard and MIT campuses has grown into 2U’s global learning platform, reaching over 100 million people in nearly 200 countries and offering more than 5,300 educational programs, all while helping more than 2,200 organizations achieve their learning goals.
Most of all, I’m grateful. Grateful to the colleagues who turn ambitious ideas into reality. Grateful to the institutional partners who believe in the mission. And grateful to the millions of learners who continue to trust edX to be part of their educational journeys.
The mission that inspired edX from the beginning remains as important as ever: increase access to education for everyone, everywhere. While my role is changing, my passion for that mission is not. If anything, this moment has only reinforced my belief that technology can help unlock human potential at a scale we’ve never seen before. I look forward to helping shape what comes next.