Netflix CEO Reed Hastings to speak at Rice Jan. 19

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings will speak on Wednesday, Jan. 19, at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business.

Hastings, the founder and chairman of Netflix, will address the Rice Educational Entrepreneurship Program (REEP) at 6:45 p.m. in the Shell Auditorium at Rice's McNair Hall. He will share his thoughts on the challenges of sustaining excellence in public schools.

Hastings is an active educational innovator, educational philanthropist and board member of many non-profits, including the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), which is co-hosting the event with REEP. He was president of the California State Board of Education from 2000 to 2004 and has led statewide political campaigns for more charter public schools and easier passage of local school bonds.

He received a B.A. from Bowdoin College in 1983 and an M.S. in computer science from Stanford University in 1988. Between Bowdoin and Stanford, Hastings served in the Peace Corps as a high school math teacher in Swaziland. He also recently was named Fortune's 2010 Businessperson of the Year.

Hastings' speech, "Why Sustained Excellence in School Districts Is So Hard," will be followed by a discussion led by Hastings and HISD’s Superintendent Terry Grier.

Registration, which is free, is required to attend the event; those interested in attending should visit reep.rice.edu to register.