Apr 30, 2015

Internet2 Names Two K-20 Education Leaders as Winners of 2015 Richard Rose Award

WASHINGTON, April 27, 2015—Internet2 today announced that Larry Gallery of NYSERNet and Rob Semper of the Exploratorium are this year’s winners of theRichard Rose Award. The award honors K-20 educators or technologists who have made demonstrable impacts on the K-20 community by extending advanced networking, content and services to the broader education community. Gallery and Semper will receive their awards tomorrow at the Internet2 Global Summit, taking place in Washington, D.C. April 26-30.

Gallery is the manager of membership development for NYSERNet, a non-profit organization that operates New York’s statewide research and education (R&E) network. In this role, he works with K-12 schools, higher education institutions, hospitals, museums, libraries and other non-profit organizations to deliver access to R&E networks, including Internet2.

As a leader within Internet2’s K-20 Initiative Advisory Committee since 2007, Gallery has demonstrated a tireless dedication to furthering creative uses of Internet2 connectivity in both formal and informal educational settings. As an example, he has spearheaded several collaborative projects allowing students from around the world to interact, debate and learn from each other via advanced network-enabled videoconferencing.

Gallery received his undergraduate degree from Utica College of Syracuse University and completed his graduate work at the University at Albany. In addition to NYSERNet, he is an international management consultant to global organizations. He is a former adjunct member of The Sage Colleges Math and Computer Sciences Department and guest lecturer for The University at Albany’s Communications Department. Gallery also has extensive experience securing extramural funding for technology initiatives.

Semper is the associate executive director and director of the laboratory at San Francisco’s Exploratorium. His current areas of responsibility include the museum’s science and art development, public understanding of research activities and creative application development, as well as oversight for the museum experience. Throughout his career, Semper has developed effective partnerships with numerous scientific, research and cultural institutions that demonstrate the power of ultra-high-bandwidth networks to enable innovative science education opportunities and artistic expression. His dynamic leadership continues to inspire colleagues in museums and cultural organizations around the world.

Semper is the author of many journal articles and invited papers, and he has been the principal investigator on projects that include developing new Internet resources, experiments using technology to enhance the museum visitor experience, and programs for teachers and museum educators. He was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2006 and received the National Science Teachers Association’s Faraday Science Communicator Award the same year. Before joining the Exploratorium in 1977, Semper taught physics and conducted solid state and nuclear physics research. He received his Ph.D. in solid state physics from the Johns Hopkins University.

“The Richard Rose Award is about recognizing efforts that broaden access to quality education and learning by extending the reach of advanced networking capabilities,” said H. David Lambert, president, and CEO of Internet2. “Both Larry and Rob have taken their expertise in networking, education and outreach and used it to benefit a broad set of communities—from primary and secondary schools, museums and libraries to the public at large. We are proud to honor them for their significant contributions to the K-20 education community.”

The Rose Award is named in honor of Richard Rose (1947-2007), who was an early leader in the National Internet2 K-20 Initiative. Rose was executive director of the University of Maryland Academic Telecommunications System and the University System of Maryland Office of Information Technology. He was an indefatigable advocate for extending the Internet2 Network to students at all levels—in both formal and information education—in the U.S. to broaden and deepen opportunities in learning, scholarship and science.

The Rose Award is given annually based on criteria such as commitment to the K-20 mission, recognized innovation in the community and leadership and mentoring qualities. For more information and a list of past Rose Award winners, visit theInternet2 website.

About Internet2
Internet2® is a member-owned advanced technology community founded by the nation's leading higher education institutions in 1996. Internet2 provides a collaborative environment for U.S. research and education organizations to solve common technology challenges, and to develop innovative solutions in support of their educational, research, and community service missions. Internet2 also operates the nation’s largest and fastest, coast-to-coast research and education network, in which the Network Operations Center is powered by Indiana University. Internet2 serves more than 90,000 community anchor institutions, 260 U.S. universities, 65 government agencies, 40 regional and state education networks, 85 leading corporations working with our community and more than 65 national research and education networking partners representing more than 100 countries. Internet2 offices are located in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Denver, Colo.; Emeryville, Calif.; Washington, D.C; and West Hartford, Conn. For more information, visit www.internet2.edu or follow @Internet2 on Twitter.

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