Shanghai

Speakers

Dr. Thomas Bailey

Thomas Bailey became the 11th President of Teachers College, Columbia University in 2018, and continues to serve as the George and Abby O'Neill Professor of Economics and Education at the College. 

As President, Dr. Bailey has overseen the redesign of student services at the College in line with his renowned research focus on pathways at community colleges, supporting student success from enrollment to graduation and beyond–including alumni. President Bailey has also strengthened the College’s research capacity and guided the development of TC’s Digital Futures Institute, ensuring the College is at the forefront of pedagogic innovation. Throughout, he has focused on impact and in 2023 he launched TC’s Public Good Initiative to continue to connect the College’s research and scholarship with communities around the world.

President Bailey has been a TC faculty member since 1990, and was the founding Director of TC’s  Community College Research Center (CCRC). 

He earned his undergraduate degree in economics from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in labor economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Roberta W. Albert  (TC M.A. ’97)

Roberta Albert joined Teachers College as Vice President for Institutional Advancement on June 3, 2024. She leads fundraising, alumni relations and communications efforts in raising the College’s profile and generating resources to advance its mission. For more than a decade, Ms. Albert served as Associate Dean for Development at Columbia University School of the Arts. There she participated in two multi-billion-dollar university-wide campaigns to support scholarships, programming and the creation of the Lenfest Center for the Arts on Columbia’s new Manhattanville campus. Prior to Columbia, she served as Director of Strategic Development Projects and Director of Alumnae Affairs at Barnard College, and also held positions at New York cultural organizations and in management consulting. Ms. Albert received an M.A. in Arts Administration from Teachers College and a B.A. in art history from Barnard College. 

Dong Guo (TC Ph.D. ’13)

Guo Dong is a Professor of Practice in Sustainability Management at Columbia's School of Professor Studies, where he teaches courses including Sustainable Cities, Climate Risks and Scenario Analysis, and Sustainability Metrics. Dr. Guo also serves as the Associate Director of the Research Program on Sustainability Policy and Management at Columbia Climate School. Dr. Guo led research on the evaluation of urban sustainability, especially for Chinese cities, and co-edited the Annual Evaluation Report of Sustainable Development of China since 2018. Dr. Guo co-authored The Sustainable City, 2nd Edition (with Steven Cohen), and The Financial Ecosystem: The Role of Finance in Achieving Sustainability (with Satyajit Bose and Anne Simpson), both of which have been translated and published in China. Dr. Guo also teaches Microeconomic Policy Analysis at the School of International and Public Affairs. Dr. Guo taught Statistics for Management and Quantitative Research Methods at Columbia, and Sustainable Finance at the School of Finance of Shanghai University of Economics and Finance as well as at the PBC School of Finance of Tsinghua University. Dr. Guo received his PhD in Economics and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, MPA from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and BSc in Economics from University College London.