Coursera Announces University Advisory Board

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwire - Dec 6, 2012) - Coursera today announced the formation of an Advisory Board, comprising nine senior academic officials from universities working with Coursera to offer online courses. Inaugural board members include Patrick Aebischer, President, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; Rafael Bras, Provost, Georgia Institute of Technology; Christopher Eisgruber, Provost, Princeton University; John Etchemendy, Provost, Stanford University; Philip Hanlon, Provost, University of Michigan; Peter Lange, Provost, Duke University; Vincent Price, Provost, University of Pennsylvania; Margaret Sheil, Provost, University of Melbourne; and Phyllis Wise, Chancellor, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

The board will advise Coursera on strategic academic and business decisions that relate to Coursera's mission of offering top-quality academic content to students everywhere. The board will have a revolving membership, with senior academic officials from three new institutions rotating in every year. Provost Vincent Price has been appointed the Chair of the Board.

"I am honored to join my colleagues in our important partnership with Coursera," said Provost Price. "I know that we share a commitment to advancing the future of education -- and doing so in a way that serves both our own campuses and the wider global community, by deepening our understanding of teaching and learning."

"Coursera is dedicated to creating better educational opportunities inside and outside the classroom, and we could not do it without the blessing and commitment of our university partners," said Coursera co-founder Daphne Koller. "We're fortunate to have the insight of these highly-respected academics in guiding Coursera's development toward our shared goal of providing a high-quality education to everyone around the world," added co-founder, Andrew Ng.

About Coursera
Coursera is on a mission to change the world by educating millions of people by offering classes from top universities and professors online for free. Coursera's comprehensive education platform combines mastery-based learning principles with video lectures, interactive content and a global community of peers, offering students from around the world a unique online learning experience. Coursera is working with top-tier universities to provide courses across a broad range of disciplines, including medicine, literature, history and computer science, among others. Coursera is backed by leading venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and New Enterprise Associates. For more information, visit Coursera.org.