ATLIS 2026 Annual Conference Mainstage Sessions
Morning General Sessions
Day One Mainstage: Community Voices and Bold Ideas
Monday, April 27
Day One of ATLIS 2026 puts the spotlight on the ATLIS community. This mainstage session features a series of fast-paced, Ignite-style presentations from independent school technology leaders across the country, sharing bold ideas, practical insights, and lessons learned from their work in schools.
Through a rapid sequence of short talks, presenters will highlight innovative practices, emerging challenges, and creative approaches to leadership, technology, and problem-solving. Topics may span everything from instructional technology and operations to cybersecurity, data, AI, and organizational change.
Designed to be high-energy and idea-driven, this session celebrates peer learning and the collective expertise of the ATLIS community. Attendees will leave with fresh perspectives, actionable takeaways, and inspiration drawn directly from the experiences of fellow school leaders.
Interested in presenting? Submit this form to be considered.
Day Two Mainstage Panel: Emerging Technology, Innovation, and the Future of Learning
Tuesday, April 28
Day Two of ATLIS 2026 opens with a fireside-style mainstage conversation grounded in Columbus, Ohio, a growing hub for research, biotechnology, and innovation. Drawing on perspectives from higher education, science, cultural institutions, industry, and K–12, this panel explores emerging technologies and trends shaping education and the future workforce.
Anchored by The Ohio State University’s interdisciplinary technology and AI research led by Dr. Ness Shroff, the conversation connects cutting-edge research to real-world application. Dr. Tiffany Claeys brings insight from Columbus’s biotech sector on how innovation moves from the lab to impact and what that means for preparing future talent. Stephen White, Esq. offers a public innovation lens from COSI, the Center of Science and Industry, highlighting how experiential learning and cross-sector partnerships bridge education, workforce development, and community engagement. A Columbus Academy high school student grounds the discussion in student experience, sharing how learners view emerging technologies and the skills they believe will matter most.
Designed to spark curiosity and big-picture thinking, this session invites independent school technology leaders to consider how emerging trends, partnerships, and student voice can inform more future-ready learning environments.
Panelists:
Dr. Ness Shroff, Ohio Eminent Scholar and Chaired Professor of ECE and CSE, The Ohio State University
Ness B. Shroff received his Ph.D. degree from Columbia University, NY, in 1994 and joined Purdue University immediately thereafter. At Purdue, he became Professor of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of CWSA in 2004, a university-wide centre on wireless systems and applications. In July 2007, he joined the ECE and CSE departments at The Ohio State University, where he holds the Ohio Eminent Scholar Chaired Professorship of Networking and Communications.
From 2009-2012, he also served as a Guest Chaired professor of Wireless Communications at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, and from 2010-2014, he served as an Honorary Guest Professor at Shanghai Jiatong University. He is currently a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He serves as the Principal Investigator and Institute Director of the NSF AI Institute on Future Edge Networks and Distributed Intelligence (ai-edge.osu.edu).
Dr. Shroff’s research focuses on fundamental problems in machine learning, network optimization, stochastic control, and algorithmic design. Dr. Shroff is a Fellow of the IEEE, and a National Science Foundation CAREER awardee. He has received numerous best paper awards and has been on the list of highly cited researchers from Thomson Reuters ISI (previously ISI web of Science) in 2014 and 2015, and in Thomson Reuters Book on The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds in 2014. He received the IEEE INFOCOM achievement award for seminal contributions to scheduling and resource allocation in wireless networks, in 2014.
Dr. Tiffany Claeys, Scientist, Andelyn Biosciences
Dr. Tiffany Claeys is a scientist whose career bridges cutting-edge biotechnology and a passion for inspiring the next generation of innovators. With a background in immunology and infectious diseases, Dr. Claeys now works in gene therapy process development at Andelyn Biosciences, helping turn scientific discoveries into life-changing treatments. Their work focuses on improving how gene therapies are made—developing efficient, reliable processes that ensure these breakthrough medicines can reach patients safely and effectively.
Dr. Claeys earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Science from Ohio State University, where their research explored how the immune system responds to infections and how that knowledge can guide new therapies. This deep curiosity about how biology works continues to drive their career in the fast-moving world of gene therapy and emerging technologies.
Beyond the lab, Dr. Claeys is dedicated to making science accessible and exciting for young learners. They volunteer regularly with K–12 STEM programs, mentoring students and leading hands-on activities designed to spark curiosity about biology, technology, and problem-solving. Dr. Claeys believes that early exposure to science not only builds critical thinking skills but also empowers students to see themselves as future innovators and changemakers.
Through their work and outreach, Dr. Claeys hopes to help shape a future where scientific discovery and education go hand in hand to improve lives and inspire possibility.
Stephen White, Esq., Chief Strategy Officer, Center for Science and Industry (COSI)
Mr. Stephen White, Esq. works to inspire others to dream more, do more, and become more. He serves as the Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel at the Center for Science and Industry (COSI), a science center named number one in the nation by USA Today four years in a row, and a museum named as the IMLS National Medal in 2023. During his career, he founded the theory of “Servant Learning” as an engagement strategy to help bridge the “Skills Gap Canyon” and workforce education gaps. In his role at COSI, he is oversees the development of optimizing the entrepreneurial business model for the organization, creating and implementing a global strategy for public partnerships at the city, state, and federal levels, and leading the execution of COSI’s Strategic Plan. A signature initiative during his career was the creation of the Learning Lunchbox Model of Engagement, which seeks to, among things, help “feed hungry lives and feed hungry minds.” Stephen serves as the executive lead for the Learning Lunchbox model of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEM), an innovative program of informal learning through community partnerships to help bridge the education gap and digital divide for underserved youth by delivering educational kits to the most vulnerable alongside critical human services, such as foodbanks. These STEM kits are developed in partnership with the White House, NASA, U.S. Department of Energy, and more, with over 350,000+ being distributed across the globe. Stephen is the recipient of several awards, including Harvard’s Young American Leadership Program, American Alliance of Museum’s Nancy Hank’s Leadership Award, U.K. Global Blooloop 50 Influencer, Midwest Museum Association Promising Leadership Award, 40 Under 40, Elite Lawyer, Columbus CEO Future 50, the John Glenn Young Alumni Achievement Award, and more. He has over a decade experience in partnerships and policy, including serving as General Counsel in the U.S. Senate, where he worked on critical areas of public policy to help address issues such as workforce development and education. As a first-generation student, Mr. White earned three degrees, all from The Ohio State University, including his B.A. in English and Political Science, J.D. from the OSU Moritz College of Law, and his M.A. in Public Policy and Management from the OSU John Glenn College of Public Affairs, and holds Certificates in Advanced Education Leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Servant Leadership from the Robert Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. He has served as an adjunct professor at the OSU Moritz College of Law covering nonprofit law and leadership, as well as several state and federal boards including as current Chair of the International Space Station User Advisory Subcommittee on Education and board member with the Association of Children’s Museums. He has served as a speaker at the White House, Statue of Liberty, SXSW, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, TEDx, Ecsite, and more, examining innovative strategies on partnerships to help address workforce development and education equity. Reach him at Linkedin at www.linkedin.com/in/stephenmauricewhite, on Twitter at @StephenWhiteOH, and via email at swhite@cosi.org.
Student, Columbus Academy