Collegiate Welcomes Alumnus Sid Dobrin ’85 for Special AI Lecture
Norfolk Collegiate is proud to welcome back alumnus Sid Dobrin ’85 for an engaging and timely discussion titled “Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Education: What We All Need to Know.”
This important conversation will explore how rapidly evolving AI technologies are shaping classrooms, learning, and the broader educational landscape. Students, families, educators and community members are invited to join us for an evening of insight and forward-looking dialogue with one of the nation’s leading voices in the field.
This important conversation will explore how rapidly evolving AI technologies are shaping classrooms, learning, and the broader educational landscape. Students, families, educators and community members are invited to join us for an evening of insight and forward-looking dialogue with one of the nation’s leading voices in the field.
Please RSVP to development@norfolkcollegiate.org.
About Sid Dobrin '85
About Sid Dobrin '85
For the last 29 years, Sid Dobrin has been a professor in the Department of English at the University of Florida (UF), where he served as department chair from 2015 to 2025. He also served as director of writing programs from 1998 to 2008 and as graduate coordinator from 2012 to 2015. Before joining the faculty at UF, he was a faculty member at the University of Kansas (1995-97). He received his PhD from the University of South Florida in 1995, his MA in 1991 from Old Dominion University, and his BA from Virginia Wesleyan College in 1989. He is the author/editor of more than thirty books and numerous articles.
His research is expansive, multidisciplinary and globally recognized. His work is recognized as groundbreaking in several areas, including writing studies, environmental humanities, blue humanities and emerging technologies. Recently, Sid has become one of the world’s most sought-after academic experts on Generative AI, having delivered more than 80 talks worldwide about Artificial Intelligence and Generative Artificial Intelligence in different contexts, including higher education, K-12 education, and industry. He is the founding director of the Trace Innovation Initiative at UF and has been named a Digital Thought Leader by Adobe. He serves as a member of the Florida Institute for National Security, the Florida AI Learning Consortium (FALCON) Steering Committee, and UF’s AI Blue Sky Task Force. In April 2025, he testified before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce about AI and education.
His most recent books include "AI and Writing" (Broadview, 2023), "Blue Ecocriticism and the Oceanic Imperative" (Routledge, 2021), and "Fishing Gone? Saving the Ocean through Sportfishing" (Texas A & M University Press, 2019).
He is currently on sabbatical, working on several book projects, including one that examines enduring questions inspired by the rise of AI, and one examining global protein security related to ocean harvest. In addition to his academic work, Mr. Dobrin is a recognized figure in the recreational sports fishing industry, and he writes for several fishing magazines, including "Saltwater Sportsman," "Florida Sportsman," and others. He writes a monthly column about AI for the industry trade magazine "Fishing Tackle Retailer." He is the host of The Fishing Professor Rod Cast. He is an MIT-certified AI Strategist, and his company, Flying Fish-AI, provides companies with strategic guidance in AI integration. Mostly, though, Mr. Dobrin just wants to hang out with his boys Asher (21) and Shaia (19).
