Michael H. Levine, PhD

Michael H. Levine, Ph.D. is Senior Vice President, Learning and Impact, for Noggin, Nickelodeon’s online direct-to-consumer interactive learning service for preschoolers. He reports to Kristen Kane, Executive Vice President, Noggin. An early learning and social policy expert, Dr. Levine focuses on deepening Noggin’s value to children and families through content and interactive experiences developed for learning and impact. Noggin subscriptions have grown by triple digits year over year from 2018 to 2019, and the ad-free service currently features over 1,500 iconic, full-length library episodes, short-form videos, Spanish-language videos, music videos featuring preschoolers’ favorite characters, and more. Based in New York, Dr. Levine previously spent 12 years at Sesame Workshop where he served as Chief Knowledge Officer, a member of the senior executive team responsible for driving organization-wide learning, educational partnerships, knowledge exchange, and policy leadership. He is also the Founding Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, a pioneering thought leader in the digital media and learning field. Prior to that, Dr. Levine was Vice President for Asia Society, managing interactive media and educational initiatives to promote knowledge and understanding of other world regions, languages, and cultures. He conceived and directed a national campaign, “I Am Your Child,” with entertainment, policy, philanthropic and practice leaders, which led to major state and national investments in health care, early learning, and parenting education. He also previously oversaw Carnegie Corporation’s groundbreaking work in early childhood development and educational media, and he was a senior advisor to the New York City Schools Chancellor, where he directed dropout prevention, afterschool, and homeless programs. Dr. Levine serves on several boards including We Are Family Foundation, Khan Academy Kids, Woot Math and Digi Learn. He is a Pahara-Aspen Education Reform Fellow and a frequent adviser to global, national, and state policymakers. He has authored numerous academic articles, writes for media outlets such as Slate, Huffington Post and Education Week, and is a frequent keynote speaker at education and technology conferences around the world. His recent book, co-authored with Lisa Guernsey of New America, is Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens. He received his B.S. from Cornell University and PhD in Social Policy from the Florence Heller School at Brandeis University.