Northeastern University's Open Classroom Series will feature “Campaign 2012: Policy Advice to the President.” to be held every Wednesday evening from Sept. 5 through Dec. 12, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., ...]]> Beyond the deluge of campaign ads and Super PAC propaganda, the upcoming months promise some more thoughtful political events in New England. Consider ...

Northeastern University's Open Classroom Series will feature “Campaign 2012: Policy Advice to the President.” to be held every Wednesday evening from Sept. 5 through Dec. 12, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., in the university's West Village F. Moderators will include: Barry Bluestone, founding dean of Northeastern's School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs; Massachusetts state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz; Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo; former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee for president in 1988 and a professor of Political Science at Northeastern; and Newton, Mass. Mayor Setti Warren. (Admission is free.)

The New England Council's Congressional Roundtables will feature a breakfast discussion with U.S. Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) on Monday, Sept. 10, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., at Boston's Hampshire House. Future roundtables convened by the regional business group will include: U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) on Wednesday, Sept. 19, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Providence Biltmore Hotel in Providence, R.I.; U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) on Monday, Sept. 24, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Burlington Hilton in Burlington, Vt.; and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) on Tuesday, Sept. 25, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at PretiFlaherty, One City Center, in Portland, Maine. (Free to New England Council members.)

The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College will host a variety of speakers through the academic year, starting with former U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) on Monday, Sept. 17, at 4:30 p.m. in Dartmouth's Silsby Hall. Other speakers in the series will include Alice Rivlin of the Brookings Institution on Thursday, Oct. 18. The series will culminate in a panel discussion on Thursday, Nov. 8, exploring "What Now? Post-Election Opportunities & Challenges." (Admission is free.)

Charles Gibson, former "ABC World News" anchor, will deliver the lecture, "The (Im)Balance of Power in Washington: How Things Went Off the Rails and How They Can Be Fixed," on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. at the Burt Kahn Court on Quinnipiac University's Mount Carmel Campus. (Admission is free.)

Author and political commentator Michael Barone will deliver the keynote address, "Election 2012 and the American Experiment," at Pioneer Institute's 2012 Better Government Competition Awards ceremony on Monday, Sept. 24 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Boston. Barone is senior political analyst at The Washington Examiner, a Fox News contributor, and co-author of The Almanac of American Politics, which is published biennially by National Journal. (Tickets begin at $150.)

Massachusetts College of Art and Design named Dawn Barrett to be its next president, succeeding Kay Sloan, who will retire after 15 years as president. Barrett is currently dean of the Architecture and Design Division at Rhode Island School of Design. MassArt trustees named Sloan president emerita. She created The New Partnership for ...]]>

Massachusetts College of Art and Design named Dawn Barrett to be its next president, succeeding Kay Sloan, who will retire after 15 years as president. Barrett is currently dean of the Architecture and Design Division at Rhode Island School of Design. MassArt trustees named Sloan president emerita. She created The New Partnership for MassArt, a pioneering financial and governance model that leverages strengths of both public and private higher education.

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Margot Rogers, former chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, will become vice chair and senior advisor to the Parthenon Group Education Center of Excellence. Before that, Rogers was an executive at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she managed the foundation's College Ready education strategy and staff realignment, and served on the education division's investment committee and strategic leadership team.

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The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) named seven new directors and elected Keene State College President Helen Giles-Gee to chair its board, succeeding Pomona College President David Oxtoby. Other new AAC&U directors with New England ties include Smith College President Carol Christ and Harvard University professor of government and sociology Theda Skocpol.

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The Boston-based nonprofit Women Entrepreneurs in Science & Technology (WEST) appointed Ilene Fischer as executive director. Fischer joins WEST from Enagility LLC, a performance and consulting firm focusing on organizational change, where she served as managing director.

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Norm Solomon, dean of Fairfield University’s Dolan School of Business, announced he will step down at the end of the academic year in June after a decade of service. After a yearlong sabbatical, Solomon will return to Fairfield in fall 2012 to teach full-time and conduct research.