Going Back to College(s)
Posted 04/13/2010
At Microsoft, Bill periodically visited college campuses to talk with students about applying science and technology to drive new waves of innovation. Next week he is headed back to school for a booster shot of youthful energy and ideas, this time as part of his work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
I’m pretty excited because next week I’ll be traveling to five different universities in the United States for a chance to talk with students. I’ve done college tours before when I was full time at Microsoft. This will be the first time I’ve visited different campuses as part of my work at our foundation.
It will be a busy week. I’ll be giving a talk followed by a Q&A session with students at UC Berkeley, Stanford, University of Chicago, Harvard, and MIT from April 19- 21. I’ll also be spending time at each school meeting with students and faculty to learn about innovative work they’re doing in their various programs.
I’m most looking forward to my conversation with students about how we can get more of the world’s brightest people to focus on the world’s biggest challenges, like poverty, global health, education, energy and climate change.
Unlike my past college tours, you’ll be able to watch and participate in the tour even if you can’t be there in person. From the Gates Notes and other web locations you’ll be able to watch live webcasts of the talks at UC Berkeley and Harvard via Ustream. The talks will also simulcast live on TechCrunch (UC Berkeley, 4/19) and Mashable (Harvard, 4/21). I’ll tweet more details about the live webcasts next week and will be active on Twitter throughout the tour via @BillGates. You can also learn more by checking out the college tour section of the foundation’s Facebook page.
I’m excited to have the students share their ideas and have others join in the conversation.
