Dr. Sean Decatur

Chairman of Codon Learning’s Advisory Board and President, American Museum of Natural History

As the former President of Kenyon College, Dr. Sean Decatur brings first-hand insights into higher-education administration as well as professional expertise in chemistry and biochemistry research, curriculum reform, and faculty evaluation. Throughout his 25-year career, Dr. Decatur has been an influential advocate for inclusive, evidence-based teaching practices and has supported the development of rigorous, data-informed methods for teaching science.

Dr. Saundra Yancy Mcguire

Director Emerita of the Center for Academic Success and Professor Emerita of Chemistry at Louisiana State University

Dr. McGuire is a leader in improving student learning by teaching students metacognitive learning strategies. She works with faculty and students to increase their understanding of the application of cognitive science and learning theory to increasing student academic performance. She is also interested in increasing the number of underrepresented minoritized and women students who pursue careers in STEM. Prior to joining LSU, Dr. McGuire spent eleven years at Cornell University, where she received the Clark Distinguished Teaching Award. She has delivered keynote addresses or workshops at over 400 institutions in 47 states and twelve countries. Her book, Teach Students How to Learn, is a Stylus Publishing bestseller. The student version of this book, Teach Yourself How to Learn, was released in January 2018. She is an elected Fellow of the ACS, AAAS, and the Council of Learning Assistance and Developmental Education Associations. She has won many awards including the 2017 American Chemical Society (ACS) Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students to Pursue Careers in the Chemical Sciences; the 2015 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Lifetime Mentor Award; the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE); and the 2007 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.

Dr. Susan Rundell Singer

President, St. Olaf College

Dr. Susan Rundell Singer has been a national leader in higher education reform, including serving as Director for the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation, on the NASEM Roundtable on Systemic Change in Undergraduate STEM Education, and as chair-elect for the AAAS Education Section. Previously, Dr. Singer served as the Laurence McKinley Gould Professor in the Biology and Cognitive Science Departments at Carleton College for 30 years, where she had the opportunity to direct the Perlman Center for Learning and Teaching. Dr. Singer is a AAAS fellow and received the American Society of Plant Biology Teaching Award and Botanical Society of America Charles Bessey Award.

Dr. Gabriela Weaver

Assistant Dean for Student Success Analytics and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Dr. Weaver is a leader in efforts to improve teaching in STEM higher education through professional development for faculty. She has served as Vice Provost for Faculty Development, and director of the Institute for Teaching Excellence and Faculty Development (TEFD) at the University of Massachusetts. Prior to that, she was a professor of chemistry and science education and the Director of the Discovery Learning Research Center at Purdue University. In addition to her faculty development efforts, from 2004-2012, she directed the Center for Authentic Science Practice in Education (CASPiE), a project dedicated to involving undergraduate students in research experiences. In 2012, she was elected as a AAAS Fellow for her contributions to transforming science education at the undergraduate level. She has been a co-author on two chemistry textbooks, the 2015 book Transforming Institutions: Undergraduate STEM Education for the 21st Century, the 2020 book A Guide to Course-based Undergraduate Research, as well as numerous scholarly articles, book chapters, and reports of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM).

Dr. Kelly mack

Vice President for Undergraduate STEM Education and Executive Director of Project Kaleidoscope at the Association of American Colleges and Universities

Dr. Mack is the Vice President for Undergraduate STEM Education and Executive Director of Project Kaleidoscope at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). In this capacity, Dr. Mack provides leadership for the organization’s mission level commitments to quality and inclusion through the delivery of world class STEM faculty professional development institutes. Prior to joining AAC&U, Dr. Mack was the Senior Program Director for the National Science Foundation ADVANCE Program while on loan from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore where, as a Professor of Biology, she taught courses in Physiology and Endocrinology for 17 years. 

Dr. Mack’s holistic approach to STEM reform is grounded in a strategic vision that foregrounds inclusion as an immutable factor for achieving excellence in undergraduate STEM education. Her leadership in STEM reform has led to: significant increases in the capacity of STEM faculty to implement culturally responsive pedagogies, major shifts in the ways in which leadership development for STEM faculty is delivered, and the expansion of both physical and virtual convening platforms for knowledge generation, exchange, and dissemination. 

Recognized as a national thought leader in higher education, Dr. Mack’s work has been highlighted in Diverse Magazine and U.S. News and World Report. Currently, she serves on the external advisory boards for several institutional transformation initiatives at NSF-funded ADVANCE and HBCU Undergraduate Program institutions, as Co-Editor of the ADVANCE Journal Special Issue, and as a member of the Howard University School of Arts and Sciences Board of Visitors. Dr. Mack is also co-founder and chair of the board of the Society of STEM Women of Color, Inc.

Ms. Christie Henry

Director, Princeton University Press

Christie Henry has served in the nonprofit publishing ecosystem for 26 years. She curated a diverse portfolio of life sciences publications at the University of Chicago Press, where she also oversaw programs in the social sciences and reference publishing. As a member of the Association of University Presses inaugural Acquisitions Committee, she coauthored “Best Practices of Peer Review” and currently leads a task force on “Creating Cultures of Gender Equity and Respect” in publishing. She is a recognized leader in equity and inclusion in publishing.

Dr. Joel K. Abraham

Professor of Biological Science and Director of the Catalyst Center for the Advancement of Research in Teaching and Learning Math and Science at California State University, Fullerton

Dr. Abraham is Professor of Biological Science at California State University, Fullerton and is the Director of the Catalyst Center for the Advancement of Research in Teaching and Learning Math and Science. Prior to his faculty position, he was the Education Coordinator at SimBio, Inc., an education software and research company and a postdoctoral associate with the Scheller Teacher Education Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Abraham has worked throughout his career to improve teaching, access, and equity in K-16 biology education. His research spans student conceptions in biology, competence in experimentation and graph construction, educational technology in science teaching, and the influence of course interventions on student affect in science. He serves on the advisory board for the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program and Honors Program at CSU Fullerton and has served on boards to promote inclusion and equity at the Ecological Society of America and Organization for Tropical Studies. He is currently a managing editor for the journal Life Sciences Education. In 2020, he was made a fellow of the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE).