Keynote+Speakers+2010

//Overcoming the Odds: Creating a Climate of Success for Girls and Young Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)//
** America, and many of its sister states around the world, face enormous challenges in educating many more girls and young women in STEM fields in the new century. Among the most critical questions we face are what will girls and young women need to know in order to succeed academically in STEM fields, and what skills and values must they possess? Additionally, what strategies and best practices can educational leaders, teachers, parents, and others use to support and ensure the success of these students? For the United States, answers to these questions will substantially influence how well girls and young women achieve academically in STEM fields and, ultimately, America’s global competitiveness in the first part of the 21st century. ** Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, has served as President of UMBC (The University of Maryland, Baltimore County) since May, 1992. His research and publications focus on science and math education, with special emphasis on minority participation and performance. He currently chairs the National Academies’ Committee on Underrepresented Groups and the Science & Engineering Workforce Pipeline. In 2008, he was named one of //America’s Best Leaders // by //U.S. News & World Report //, which in both 2009 and 2010 ranked UMBC the #1 “Up and Coming” university in the nation and among the top colleges and universities in the nation for commitment to undergraduate teaching. In 2009, //Time // magazine named him one of America’s //10 Best College Presidents //. He serves as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Academies, and universities and school systems nationally. He also serves on the boards of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, France-Merrick Foundation, Marguerite Casey Foundation (Chair), and The Urban Institute. He also sits on the boards of Constellation Energy Group, McCormick & Company, and the Baltimore Equitable Society. He is a past member of the board of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Maryland Humanities Council (member and Chair). Examples of recent honors include election to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the American Philosophical Society; receiving the prestigious //McGraw Prize in Education//, the U.S.//Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring//, and the Columbia University //Teachers College Medal for Distinguished Service //; being named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and //Marylander of the Year// by the editors of the //Baltimore Sun//; and being listed among //Fast Company// magazine’s first //Fast 50 Champions of Innovation// in business and technology. He also holds honorary degrees from more than a dozen institutions, including Harvard, Princeton, Duke, Haverford College, the University of Michigan, Georgetown University, and Harvey Mudd College. With philanthropist Robert Meyerhoff, he co-founded the Meyerhoff Scholars Program in 1988. The program is open to all high-achieving students committed to pursuing advanced degrees and research careers in science and engineering, and advancing minorities in these fields. The program has become a national model, and based on program outcomes, Hrabowski has authored numerous articles and co-authored two books, //Beating the Odds// and //Overcoming the Odds// (Oxford University Press), focusing on parenting and high-achieving African American males and females in science. Both books are used by universities, school systems, and community groups around the country. A child-leader in the Civil Rights Movement, Hrabowski was prominently featured in Spike Lee’s 1997 documentary, //Four Little Girls//, on the racially motivated bombing in 1963 of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Born in 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama, Hrabowski graduated at 19 from Hampton Institute with highest honors in mathematics. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he received his M.A. (mathematics) and four years later his Ph.D. (higher education administration/statistics) at age 24.

Molly Rumsey, Interim Director of the Online School for Girls
Last year, Brad Rathgeber, President of the Board of Trustees for the Online School for Girls, spoke to us about the state of online education, and we got a brief glimpse into the plans for the Online School for Girls. This year, Molly Rumsey, Interim Director, will update us on the first year of courses and give us all a peek at what is coming in the near future.

Dr. Linda Swarlis, Columbus School for Girls
//STEM and Spatial Ability (Spatial Intelligence)//

Prior to 2006, spatial ability (also called spatial intelligence) research took place in isolated silos of research scattered across multiple disciplines. The development of spatial intelligence was identified as a critical component for academic and employment success within each field, particularly within the STEM disciplines, but information regarding its importance was not commonly shared across disciplines. For example, in engineering, a research study was published as early as 1955 that discussed the importance of spatial experience to success in engineering. However, for decades this study remained virtually unknown to those outside the field of engineering. Most of the landmark research findings in the different disciplines are not commonly known by Prekindergarten through Grade Twelve educators and administrators. In 2006, a group of university researchers from many disciplines met to see what could be done to coordinate research findings, the direction of future research, as well as the publication of research findings and possible intervention strategies. This collaborative effort resulted in the development of the National Science Foundation funded Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center, a major goal of which is to identify current research findings related to spatial intelligence and to suggest how incorporating the development of spatial intelligence could help students reach the threshold level of spatial intelligence needed for success in STEM fields. Dr. Swarlis will summarize the research findings and talk about ways to help our students develop their spatial intelligence.

Dr. Swarlis will also speak briefly about girls and technology. She co-authored a paper, //Girls and Technology: Strategies for Success//, that was recently published on the web site of the National Coalition of Girls Schools. www.ncgs.org

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Linda Jacobs Swarlis, Ph.D., completed her doctoral research on spatial ability and information seeking in adolescent girls in 2008. Linda is a veteran educator and administrator in both co-educational and single-sex, private and public, K-12 schools and has taught at the graduate level for two universities. She has presented at international, national, and state conferences on many topics including social networking, professional development in a 1:1 program, teaching online, spatial intelligence and information seeking, and library automation. Dr. Swarlis holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Information Science from the University of North Texas, a Master of Library Science from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.======