Barbara Oakley

Barbara Oakley brings with her a breadth and depth of experience. From enlisting in the U.S. Army right after high school, studying Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, and securing a degree in Slavic Languages and Literature, Barbara made an education and career jump into engineering that culminated in a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from Oakland University. Barbara’s work history is as varied and interesting as her education! She worked several fishing seasons as a Russian translator on Soviet Trawlers in the Bering Sea, the experience of which is the subject of her first book, Hair of the Dog: Tales from a Russian Trawler. Barbara spent a season as the radio operator at the South Pole Station in Antarctica, where she met her husband Philip. In Seattle, she worked as an instrumentation and controls engineer, then after relocating to Detroit, worked briefly for the Ford Motor Company. After graduating with her Ph.D. from Oakland University, she was hired as a professor where her work and educational pursuits have aligned!

Barbara’s recent work focuses on the complex relationship between neuroscience and social behavior. She teaches the popular MOOC (massive open online course) Learning How to Learn with Terrence Sejnowski, from the Salk Institute. Based on Barb’s book A Mind for Numbers, the MOOC has over 2 million registered students.

Stuart Slavin

Stuart Slavin MD, MEd is Senior Scholar for Well-being at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). A graduate of Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Dr. Slavin completed his residency training in pediatrics at UCLA and then served as a faculty member there for 17 years before returning to Saint Louis University as Associate Dean for Curriculum. Over the past decade, Dr. Slavin led efforts at SLU to improve the mental health of medical students that produced dramatic decreases in rates of depression and anxiety in pre-clerkship students. He joined the ACGME in July 2018 where he is helping to lead efforts to improve the mental health of residents and faculty across the US.

Stuart Slavin

Stuart Slavin MD, MEd is Senior Scholar for Well-being at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). A graduate of Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Dr. Slavin completed his residency training in pediatrics at UCLA and then served as a faculty member there for 17 years before returning to Saint Louis University as Associate Dean for Curriculum. Over the past decade, Dr. Slavin led efforts at SLU to improve the mental health of medical students that produced dramatic decreases in rates of depression and anxiety in pre-clerkship students. He joined the ACGME in July 2018 where he is helping to lead efforts to improve the mental health of residents and faculty across the US.