Lecture: 4:30pm-5:45pm
Reception: 5:45pm-6:30pm
Registration Form

Dan Porterfield (President and CEO, Aspen Institute) and Dr. Melanie Lundquist (Philanthropist) will share their thoughts on Formative Education as part of the Formative Education Lecture Series.

Dan Porterfield Bio:

Since 2018, Dan Porterfield has served as President and CEO of the Aspen Institute. He has been recognized as a visionary strategist, leader, and advocate for young people and purpose-driven leadership. A lifelong educator and former college president, he is the author of the 2024 book, Mindset Matters: The Power of College to Activate Lifelong Growth.

At the Aspen Institute, Porterfield has led an era of organizational development and growth. Since 2018, fueled by new investments, the Institute’s operating budget has increased from $158 million to more than $260 million, and its endowment has tripled to more than $350 million.

Prior to leading the Aspen Institute, Porterfield served for seven years as the President of Franklin & Marshall College. During his presidency, Franklin & Marshall set records for applications, fundraising, and fellowships; developed cutting edge new centers for student wellness, career services, and faculty excellence; and constructed a new athletics stadium and visual arts center.
 
Porterfield previously served as Senior Vice President for Strategic Development and as an award-winning professor of English at his alma mater, Georgetown University, and as communications director and chief speechwriter for the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.
 
Porterfield serves on the National Board of Directors of Teach For America and as a trustee of Colorado College. He was named a White House Champion of Change in 2016 and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council on Foreign Relations. He earned B.A. degrees from Georgetown and Oxford—where he was a Rhodes Scholar—and his Ph.D. from The City University of New York Graduate Center, where he was awarded a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities and wrote his dissertation on the poetry of American prisoners.
 

Dr. Melanie Lundquist Bio:

Dr. Melanie Lundquist, LHD, and her husband Richard are signatories of the Giving Pledge and have appeared five times on the Philanthropy 50, the annual list of America’s most generous philanthropists.

From Aspen, Politico, Bloomberg to Milken and other forums, Melanie speaks authentically about “big bet,” maximum-impact philanthropy done with a focus to bring solutions and changes to scale. At the 2023 Aspen Ideas Festival, she was interviewed onstage in a one-on-one candid conversation with Aspen Institute CEO Dan Porterfield about what drives a modern philanthropist to do what they do.

At the 2024 Giving Pledge Annual Gathering, Melanie joined Bill Gates and David Rubenstein onstage, where they spoke candidly about how to become a transformational giver. She helped The Chronicle of Philanthropy launch “The Commons,” which explores how America’s nonprofits and foundations are working to heal the nation’s divides and build community.

Melanie serves as Vice Chair of the Board at the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, one of the largest, in-district (non-charter) public school transformation organizations in the United States. She also serves on the Board of Directors at The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, a leading nonprofit organization driving advancements in medical research.

Melanie was named “Philanthropist of the Year” in 2019 by the Los Angeles Business Journal.