President Obama will recognize 20 educators with an “Educate to Innovate” award today. The ceremony will be Web cast live at 1:35 p.m. Stacy Phelps of Oglala Lakota College will be among the award recipients recogized for their excellence in mathematics and science teaching and mentoring. This is the president’s second “Educate to Innovate” Campaign event for excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) education in the East Room. The President will also announce key new partnerships in his campaign to help reach the Administration’s goal of moving American students from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade.
The Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM), awarded each year to individuals or organizations, recognizes the crucial role that mentoring plays in the academic and personal development of students studying science or engineering and who belong to minorities that are underrepresented in those fields. Candidates for the Presidential mentoring award are nominated by colleagues, administrators, and students from their home institutions. The mentoring can involve students at any grade level from elementary through graduate school, according to a White House press release.
Recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring
Frank T. Bayliss Jr., San Francisco State University, CA
Laura Lynne J. Bottomley, North Carolina State University, NC
Goldie S. Byrd, North Carolina A&T State University, NC
Suzzette F. Chopin, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, TX
Lesia L. Crumpton-Young, University of Central Florida , FL
Patricia A. DeLeon, University of Delaware, DE
Nancy L. Elwess, SUNY College, Plattsburgh, NY
Benjamin C. Flores, University of Texas, El Paso, TX
Ashanti Johnson, University of South Florida and Institute for Broadening Participation, FL
Susan M. Kauzlarich, University of California, Davis, CA
Philip Kutzko, University of Iowa, IA
Cato T. Laurencin, University of Virginia, VA
Jerzy R. Leszczynski, Jackson State University, MS
Gabrielle Lyon, Project Exploration, Chicago, IL
Mary Anne Nelson, University of New Mexico, NM
Steven B. Oppenheimer, California State University, Northridge, CA
Stacy Phelps, The American Indian Institute for Innovation, SD
Kennedy J. Reed, Lawrence Livermore Natl. Lab. and the University of California, CA
Kenneth S. Sajwan, Savannah State University, GA
Vladimir Strelnitski, Maria Mitchell Association, Nantucket, MA
Valerie Wilson Cranston, Leadership Alliance, Providence, RI
Richard Zare, Stanford University, CA
Jodi Rave
