Preparing Today's IB For Tomorrow's Challenges

Room: Ontario

presented by Jeffrey R. Beard, Director General, International Baccalaureate

Every organization must evolve over time, and so must the IB. IB's growth rate means doubling our size every five years, and today's infrastructure was not designed for such large scale growth. Join the Director General as he describes his 2020 vision and some of the challenges of change. He will focus on ways we plan to meet the growth challenge while assuring consistent quality across schools. He will touch on some of the planning and groundwork already underway to meet these many challenges, including the re-alignment of legal, governance and management structures across the organization. There will be ample time for questions and for dialogue.

Jeffrey R. Beard, Director General, International Baccalaureate
Jeffrey Beard became Director General of the IB in January 2006, following the retirement of George Walker. Previous to this post, Mr Beard was the Division President and Chief Operating Officer for one of the major operating divisions of Syngenta AG, a world-leading agribusiness committed to sustainable agriculture through innovative research and technology, based in Basel, Switzerland.
Born and educated in the USA, Jeffrey Beard graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1972 with a bachelor of science in analytical management, and has two graduate degrees, including an MBA from the University of Wisconsin. His business career included roles of increasing responsibility at Procter & Gamble, Pioneer Hi-bred International, Inc. and his most recent assignment at Syngenta. Mr Beard has a great personal interest in education. He served as president and member of the West Des Moines school board in Iowa for five years. Various members of his close family are teachers, he taught college business courses while stationed in Wales in the mid 1970s, and his two children graduated with IB diplomas from the Vienna International School in the 1990s.