2024 Speakers
C. Shane Reese
President, BYU
C. Shane Reese is the fourteenth President of Brigham Young University (BYU). He joined the BYU statistics faculty in 2001 and subsequently served as dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and most recently as academic vice president. Prior to entering academia, he worked in the Computer, Computational, and Statistical Sciences Division of Los Alamos National Laboratory.
President Reese earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in statistics from BYU and a doctoral degree in statistics from Texas A&M University. He has created statistical models addressing a range of issues from predicting the power of solar storms to determining the safest method for destroying chemical weapons to assessing climate impact on glaciers in high mountain Asia and Antarctica. His work has also been used by the U.S. Olympic volleyball team as well as the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.
President Reese served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Taiwan Taipei Mission. He and his wife, Wendy Wood Reese, are the parents of three children and expecting their first grandchild.
C. Shane Reese is the fourteenth President of Brigham Young University (BYU). He joined the BYU statistics faculty in 2001 and subsequently served as dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and most recently as academic vice president. Prior to entering academia, he worked in the Computer, Computational, and Statistical Sciences Division of Los Alamos National Laboratory.
President Reese earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in statistics from BYU and a doctoral degree in statistics from Texas A&M University. He has created statistical models addressing a range of issues from predicting the power of solar storms to determining the safest method for destroying chemical weapons to assessing climate impact on glaciers in high mountain Asia and Antarctica. His work has also been used by the U.S. Olympic volleyball team as well as the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.
President Reese served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Taiwan Taipei Mission. He and his wife, Wendy Wood Reese, are the parents of three children and expecting their first grandchild.
Matthew Winters
AI Educational Specialist, Utah State Board of Education
Matthew Winters is the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Educational Specialist for USBE, the Utah State Board of Education. He was formerly a product manager and statewide trainer for Utah Education Network, specializing in Google Workspaces for Edu. He was also the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology (UCET) President for 2022-2024, our Utah ISTE affiliate. He is one of the International Society for Technology in Education’s 20 to Watch in 2023 and Tech & Learning’s Best Example of Professional Development. He is a former English Language Arts teacher at the secondary and college level. He has been a podcaster for several year with Edtrex Rewind, The UCET Podcast, and UEN Homeroom.
Matthew Winters is the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Educational Specialist for USBE, the Utah State Board of Education. He was formerly a product manager and statewide trainer for Utah Education Network, specializing in Google Workspaces for Edu. He was also the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology (UCET) President for 2022-2024, our Utah ISTE affiliate. He is one of the International Society for Technology in Education’s 20 to Watch in 2023 and Tech & Learning’s Best Example of Professional Development. He is a former English Language Arts teacher at the secondary and college level. He has been a podcaster for several year with Edtrex Rewind, The UCET Podcast, and UEN Homeroom.
David Habib
Senior VP and Chief Information Officer, Brightspot
As Brightspot’s CIO, David is responsible for Information Security, Governance & Compliance, and Information Technology. David is an active advisor to our customers as well as to our Cloud Infrastructure, Managed Services, and Customer Success teams. David has been our CIO since October of 2018.
Prior to taking on the CIO role, David oversaw the technical consulting functions of our Professional Services, including software development, quality assurance, and program management.
Prior to Brightspot, David led the Business IT and Information Security organizations at Neustar, an information and analytics company, where he played an integral role in transforming Neustar’s IT infrastructure to support sustained double-digit growth.
Before Neustar, David was Vice President at AOL, acting as General Manager for the Winamp family of products and leading the global Technology organization for the AOL Media division.
Prior to taking on that role, David was Senior Director of Systems and Networking operations teams at both WebMD, where he streamlined the management of production and IT systems, and AOL, where he developed a new content delivery architecture for AOL's then-emerging presence on the free web.
As Brightspot’s CIO, David is responsible for Information Security, Governance & Compliance, and Information Technology. David is an active advisor to our customers as well as to our Cloud Infrastructure, Managed Services, and Customer Success teams. David has been our CIO since October of 2018.
Prior to taking on the CIO role, David oversaw the technical consulting functions of our Professional Services, including software development, quality assurance, and program management.
Prior to Brightspot, David led the Business IT and Information Security organizations at Neustar, an information and analytics company, where he played an integral role in transforming Neustar’s IT infrastructure to support sustained double-digit growth.
Before Neustar, David was Vice President at AOL, acting as General Manager for the Winamp family of products and leading the global Technology organization for the AOL Media division.
Prior to taking on that role, David was Senior Director of Systems and Networking operations teams at both WebMD, where he streamlined the management of production and IT systems, and AOL, where he developed a new content delivery architecture for AOL's then-emerging presence on the free web.
Michelle Bennett
Assistant VP for Information Technology, BYU
Michelle Bennett serves as the assistant vice president of information technology at Brigham Young University, assuming the role in December 2023. She has been a part of the Office of Information Technology for over 12 years, most recently holding the position of technology planning center managing director for the Office of Information Technology and the Church Educational System. Before her tenure at BYU, she dedicated 17 years to many differing roles at Novell, including chief of staff, human resources director, and various IT management positions.
Bennett earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Alaska Anchorage and received a master’s degree in computer information systems from the University of Phoenix. She also pursued graduate studies in leadership and organizational behavior while at BYU.
Michelle Bennett serves as the assistant vice president of information technology at Brigham Young University, assuming the role in December 2023. She has been a part of the Office of Information Technology for over 12 years, most recently holding the position of technology planning center managing director for the Office of Information Technology and the Church Educational System. Before her tenure at BYU, she dedicated 17 years to many differing roles at Novell, including chief of staff, human resources director, and various IT management positions.
Bennett earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Alaska Anchorage and received a master’s degree in computer information systems from the University of Phoenix. She also pursued graduate studies in leadership and organizational behavior while at BYU.