Appendix A

Biographical Sketches for Committee Members and Staff

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Lorelle L. Espinosa (Co-Chair) is the vice president for research at the American Council on Education (ACE), a national membership organization that mobilizes the higher education community to shape effective public policy and foster innovative, high-quality practice. She is responsible for developing and managing the organization’s thought leadership portfolio and for ensuring a strong evidence base across ACE’s myriad programs and services. Espinosa has served the higher education profession for 20 years, beginning in student affairs and undergraduate admissions at the University of California, Davis; Stanford University; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to ACE, she held senior roles at the Institute for Higher Education Policy and Abt Associates. Espinosa’s scholarship spans a variety of issues, including race-conscious practices in selective college admissions, the role of Minority Serving Institutions in meeting 21st century educational and workforce goals, contributors to positive campus racial climate, and diversity and inclusion in the STEM disciplines. She has contributed opinion and scholarly works to peer-reviewed journals, academic volumes, and industry publications and websites, including the Harvard Educational Review, Research in Higher Education, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, CNN.com, and HigherEdToday.org. Espinosa earned her Ph.D. in higher education and organizational change from the University of California, Los Angeles; her bachelor of arts from the University of California, Davis; and her associate of arts from Santa Barbara City College.

Kent McGuire (Co-Chair) is the program director of education at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. He leads the investments of deeper learning

and open educational resources strategies, with a focus on helping all students succeed in college, work, and civic life. McGuire is a veteran of the national education movement for public education. Previously, he was the president and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation, an organization committed to advancing public education in the American South, with a focus on equity and excellence. Prior to that, he served as the dean of the College of Education at Temple University and was a tenured professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. From 2001 to 2003, he was a senior vice president at the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, where he split his time between research projects on school reform and directing its department on education, children, and youth. He has also been an education program officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts and directed the education program at the Lilly Endowment. McGuire served as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education from 1998 to 2001. He earned his Ph.D. in public administration from the University of Colorado, an M.A. from Columbia University Teacher’s College, and a B.A. in economics from the University of Michigan. He serves on the boards of the Wallace Foundation, the Institute for Education Leadership, and the Panasonic Foundation.

Jim Bertin is the math instructor at Chief Dull Knife College, a tribally run community college that serves primarily Native students on the reservation in Billings, Montana. Bertin, a pillar of the mathematics and science community at Chief Dull Knife College, directs the Chief Dull Knife College rocket team for the NASA-supported First Nations Launch (FNL) competition. The FNL is an annual competition that offers Tribal Colleges and Universities the opportunity to demonstrate engineering and design skills through direct application in high-powered rocketry.

Anthony Carpi is associate provost and dean of research at John Jay College, CUNY. He is founder of the STEM mentoring program PRISM, and director of the college’s Office of Student Research & Creativity. He has published extensively in the scientific and educational literature, most recently in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching on the impact of research experiences on the career decisions of underrepresented students in science. In 2011, he was awarded a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math, and Engineering Mentoring by President Barack Obama for his work on diversifying the STEM pipeline. He is founder of the open educational STEM learning system Visionlearning (www.visionlearning.com), which provides high-quality science content to students and teachers. In his capacity as dean of research, he has overseen a doubling in the college’s external grant portfolio and scholarly productivity. Carpi earned his M.S. and Ph.D. from Cornell University in environmental toxicology and obtained his B.S. in chemistry from Boston College.

Aprille J. Ericcson has held numerous positions during her 25+ year tenure with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 2017, Ericsson assumed the position of new business lead for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Instrument Systems and Technology Division. Most recently, she served as the capture manager for a proposed Astrophysics mid-sized Class Explorer, called STAR-X. Prior to that proposal development, Ericsson served as the GSFC program manager for SBIR/STTR. Formerly, she served as the deputy to the chief technologist for the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate. As an altitude control systems analyst, she developed practical control methods and analyzed structural dynamics for several space science missions. She served as a NASA HQs program executive for Earth Science, and a business executive for Space Science. As an instrument project manager she has led spaceflight instrument teams and proposal developments. Dr. Ericsson’s graduate school research at Howard University was developing control methods for orbiting large space platforms such as ISS. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at several universities. Currently, she sits on technical academic boards at the National Academies, MIT, and previously at Howard University as a trustee. Ericsson has won numerous awards. The most prestigious are “The 2016 Washington Award” from the Western Society of Engineers and a 2018 “Tau Beta Pi Distinguished Alumnus” awarded by the oldest American Engineering Honor Society. Ericsson is the first female to receive a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Howard University and the first African-American civil servant female to receive a Ph.D. in engineering at NASA GSFC. She received her B.S. in aeronautical/astronautical engineering from MIT.

Lamont Hames is president and CEO of LMH Strategies, Inc., a Washington, DC-based leadership, management, and human systems consulting firm. He leads a team of practitioners that serve as professional advisors to clients by optimizing priorities within their organization’s culture while delivering strategy, structure, and measurable outcomes-based solutions. Prior to founding LMH Strategies, Hames led business development strategy for small and medium-sized organizations within technology and higher education markets. As the former chief of staff for the NASA Office of Small Business Programs, Hames spearheaded policy and programs that emphasized inclusive participation of diverse businesses and higher education institutions in the federal marketplace. Initiatives such as its Mentor-Protégé program not only remain in place today but also have been emulated by other federal agencies and large commercial companies as a best practice. During his tenure, NASA was consistently recognized for its award-winning supplier diversity program. Hames entered public service as a presidential management fellow and worked on Capitol Hill with details on the House Small Business Committee and later with former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun (Illinois). He worked on legislation that resulted in the establishment of the woman-owned small business designation and advocating for higher

education Minority Serving Institution participation in procurement, research, and development at federal agencies. Hames graduated with an M.S. in management information systems from Bowie State University in 1993.

Wesley L. Harris (NAE) is the Charles Stark Draper professor of aeronautics and astronautics and housemaster of New House Residence Hall at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was previously associate provost (2008-2013) and head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (2003-2008). Before joining MIT he was a NASA associate administrator, responsible for all programs, facilities, and personnel in aeronautics (1993-1995); vice president and chief administrative officer of the University of Tennessee Space Institute (1990-1993); and dean of the School of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Connecticut, Storrs (1985-1990). In his early career at MIT (1972-1985) he held several faculty and administrative positions, including professor of aeronautics and astronautics. He earned a B.S. (with honors) in aerospace engineering from the University of Virginia in 1964 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace and mechanical sciences from Princeton University in 1966 and 1968, respectively.

Eve J. Higginbotham (NAM) is the inaugural vice dean for inclusion and diversity of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, a position she assumed on August 1, 2013. She is also a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics and professor of ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) since 2000 and is now an elected member of the NAM Council, upon which she serves on the finance committee. She is the immediate past president of the AΩA Medical Honor Society. Notable prior leadership positions in academia include dean of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, senior vice president for Health Sciences at Howard University, and professor and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, a position she held for 12 years. A graduate of MIT with undergraduate and graduate degrees in chemical engineering and Harvard Medical School, she completed her residency in ophthalmology at the Louisiana State University Eye Center and fellowship training in the subspecialty of glaucoma at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston. Higginbotham is a current member of the Defense Health Board, advisory to the Secretary of Health Affairs of the Department of Defense; Board of Directors of Ascension of which she is secretary of the Board and a member of the Executive, Finance, and Audit Committees; member of the Board of the AΩA Medical Honor Society of which she leads the Leadership Development Committee; and member of the editorial board of the American Journal of Ophthalmology. She is a vice chair of the National Eye Institute-supported Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study, a randomized clinical trial, recently funded for a 20-year follow-up study of

this unique cohort of patients. She is currently a member of the Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Clinical and Climatological Association, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Advisory Board, and the Visiting Committee of the Institute of Medical Engineering and Science at MIT. Higginbotham is a former member of the Board of Overseers at Harvard University, former member of the MIT Corporation, and a former chair of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Ophthalmic Devices Panel. She is the past president of the following organizations: the Maryland Society Eye Physicians, the Baltimore City Medical Society, and the Harvard Medical School Alumni Council. She formerly chaired her section of the National Academy of Medicine and is a former member of the NAM membership committee. Higginbotham, a practicing glaucoma specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed articles and co-edited four ophthalmology textbooks. She continues to remain active in scholarship related to health policy, STEM, and patient care.

Spero M. Manson (NAM) is distinguished professor of public health and psychiatry, directs the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, occupies the Colorado Trust Chair in American Indian Health, and serves as associate dean of research in the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Denver’s Anschutz Medical Center. His programs include 10 national centers, which pursue research, program development, training, and collaboration with 250 Native communities, spanning rural, reservation, urban, and village settings across the country. Manson has acquired $250 million in sponsored research to support this work, and published more than 250 articles on the assessment, epidemiology, treatment, and prevention of physical, alcohol, drug, as well as mental health problems over the developmental life-span of Native people. His numerous awards include the American Public Health Association’s prestigious Rema Lapouse Mental Health Epidemiology Award (1998), three special recognition awards from the Indian Health Service (1996, 2004, 2011), election to the Institute of Medicine (2002); two Distinguished Mentor Awards from the Gerontological Society of America (2006, 2007); the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Nickens Award (2006); the George Foster Award for Excellence from the Society for Medical Anthropology (2006); the National Institutes of Health Health Disparities Award for Excellence (2008); and the Bronislaw Malinowski Award from the Society for Applied Anthropology (2019). Manson is widely acknowledged as one of the nation’s leading authorities in regard to Indian and Native health. He earned his B.A. in anthropology from the University of Washington and his M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Manson is a citizen of the Pembina Chippewa tribe.

James T. Minor serves as assistant vice chancellor and senior strategist at the California State University (CSU), Office of the Chancellor. He was appointed

to provide leadership and strategy to advance CSU’s Graduation Initiative 2025 focused on dramatically increasing graduation rates while eliminating equity gaps between low-income and underserved students and their peers. Minor previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Postsecondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education. He was appointed by the Obama Administration to provide overall leadership and administration for federal programs designed to expand access to higher education, strengthen institutional capacity, and promote postsecondary innovation. Under his leadership, the Higher Education Program office was responsible for more than $7.5 billion in active programming across the nation and U.S. territories. He has served as director of Higher Education Programs at the Southern Education Foundation, faculty member at the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia, associate professor of higher education policy at Michigan State University, and a research associate in the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California. His scholarly work has focused on academic governance, higher education policy, and improving institutional performance. He is also a recognized thought leader on Minority Serving Institutions, higher education policy development, and issues related to improving degree completion nationally. Minor’s published articles have appeared in the Review of Higher Education, Educational Researcher, Thought & Action, Academe, New Directions for Higher Education, and the American Educational Research Journal. An author of many scholarly articles, reviews, national reports, and book chapters, he holds a B.A. from Jackson State University, an M.A. from the University of Nebraska, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Leo S. Morales is chief diversity officer and professor in the School of Medicine and adjunct professor in the School of Public Health, University of Washington. He directs the Center for Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the School of Medicine and co-directs the Latino Health Center in the School of Public Health. Morales conducts population research on health equity for Latino communities. He received his medical and public health degrees from the University of Washington, and the doctorate in policy analysis from the Rand Graduate School.

Anne-Marie Núñez is an associate professor of educational studies at The Ohio State University and employs sociological approaches to examine three areas in higher education: social stratification and equity, institutional diversity, and inclusive organizational cultures. More specifically, she has studied the higher education trajectories of Latino, first-generation, English Learner, working, and migrant students. In addition, her research has addressed the contributions of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) to the U.S. higher education enterprise. More recently, she has extended her work to develop inclusive organizational cultures, with the aim of broadening participation among diverse students in sci-

ence fields, including those in HSIs. Her publications have appeared in a wide range of general and specialized outlets, including top-tier journals in education such as Educational Researcher, American Educational Research Journal, and Harvard Educational Review. Her work has been generously funded by the National Science Foundation, Spencer Foundation, and Association for Institutional Research, among others. Her co-edited book Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Advancing Research and Transformative Practice, the first book to focus on HSIs as organizations, won a 2016 International Latino Book Award. In 2016, she was also recognized as an outstanding teacher, through the White House Initiative in Educational Excellence for Hispanics #LatinosTeach project. Beyond academia, her work has influenced federal policy efforts addressing students of color, Minority Serving Institutions, and the sciences, and her expertise has been featured in diverse outlets, such as The New York Times and the National Public Radio’s show Morning Edition. She holds an A.B. in social studies from Harvard University, M.A. in administration, policy analysis, and evaluation from Stanford University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in higher education and organizational change from University of California Los Angeles.

Clifton Poodry is a senior science education fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes (HHMI). Prior to joining HHMI as a senior fellow, Clifton A. Poodry was the director of the Training, Workforce Development and Diversity Division at the National Institute for General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Institutes of Health (NIH). He was responsible for developing and implementing NIGMS’s policies and plans for research training programs and capacity-building programs that reflect NIGMS’s long-standing commitment to research training and the development of a highly capable, diverse biomedical and behavioral research workforce. Poodry was a professor of biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he also served in several administrative capacities. As a professor, Poodry was involved with NIH-sponsored Minority Biomedical Research Support and Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) programs and as a director of an HHMI Undergraduate Biological Sciences program. As a program director for Developmental Biology at the National Science Foundation, Poodry developed the minority supplement initiative that was copied widely at National Science Foundation and later at NIH. Poodry is a native of the Tonawanda Seneca Indian Reservation in western New York. He earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in biology at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and received a Ph.D. in biology from Case Western Reserve University.

William Spriggs is a professor in, and former chair of, the Department of Economics at Howard University and serves as chief economist to the AFL-CIO. In his role with the AFL-CIO he chairs the Economic Policy Working Group for the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and serves on the board of the National Bureau of Economic

Research. He is currently on the Advisory Board to the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank Opportunity & Inclusive Growth Institute, and on the editorial boards for Public Administration Review and the Journal of the Center for Policy Analysis and Research (of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation). He previously served on the joint National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Public Administration’s Committee on the Fiscal Future for the United States. He was the 2016 recipient of the National Academy of Social Insurance’s Robert M. Ball Award for Outstanding Achievements in Social Insurance and the 2014 NAACP Benjamin L. Hooks’ Keeper of the Flame Award. From 2009 to 2012, Spriggs served as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Policy at the United States Department of Labor, having been appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. At the time of his appointment, he also served as chairman of the Healthcare Trust for UAW Retirees of the Ford Motor Company and as chairman of the UAW Retirees of the Dana Corporation Health and Welfare Trust; vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute; and on the joint National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Public Administration’s Committee on the Fiscal Future for the United States; and, as senior fellow of the Community Service Society of New York; and on the boards of the National Employment Law Project and very briefly for the Eastern Economic Association. His previous work experience includes roles leading economic policy development and research as a senior fellow and economist at the Economic Policy Institute; executive director for the Institute for Opportunity and Equality of the National Urban League; senior advisor for the Office of Government Contracting and Minority Business Development for the U.S. Small Business Administration; senior advisor and economist for the Economics and Statistics Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce; economist for the Democratic staff of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress; and staff director for the independent, federal National Commission for Employment Policy. He is a former president of the National Economics Association, the organization of America’s professional Black economists. He also taught for six years at Norfolk State University and for two years at North Carolina A&T State University. He is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the National Academy of Public Administration. Spriggs graduated with a B.A. from Williams College in 1977. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1984.

Victor K. Tam is currently the dean of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC), a two-year community college in Northern California. His professional career has been focused in community college education. He started as an assistant professor of chemistry in 2007 at Foothill College, and oversaw a STEM internship program placing community college students into research experiences at four-year institutions. In 2014, he transitioned to the position of dean of physical sciences, mathematics,

and engineering. Part of his work included facilitation of a STEM Summer Camp for middle and high school students to increase interest in STEM fields. Tam assumed his current position at SRJC in 2016, and is currently working on the design of a new STEM building for the 100 year-old institution. He has served as co-PI on two different NSF S-STEM grants to address student retention and success rates, as well as career preparation for STEM majors. Tam holds a B.S. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego.

Maria Cristina Villalobos holds the Myles and Sylvia Aaronson professorship in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (SMSS) at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) and is the founding director of the Center of Excellence in STEM Education, which focuses on strengthening STEM academic programs and providing resources for the academic and professional development of faculty and students, especially increasing the numbers of underrepresented students attaining STEM graduate degrees. Villalobos served as interim director of SMSS from 2015 to 2017 transitioning the school through the first two years of UTRGV. Her research areas include optimization, optimal control, and STEM education. In addition, she has been recognized at the national level for student mentoring and STEM leadership with the 2013 Distinguished Undergraduate Institution Mentor Award from the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) and a 2012 HENAAC Luminary Award from the Great Minds in STEM. She is also a recipient of the 2013 University of Texas Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award and the 2016 American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Service/Teaching Award. She also served on the SACNAS Board of Directors (2015-2017). Villalobos is a Ford Foundation fellow and Alfred P. Sloan scholar. Villalobos was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, is a first-generation college graduate, and received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Texas-Austin and her Ph.D. in computational and applied mathematics from Rice University in 2000.

Dorothy Cowser Yancy is president emerita of Shaw University and Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU). She retired from Shaw University on December 31, 2013, and holds the title of president emerita at both Johnson C. Smith University and Shaw University. She has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from Virginia State University, JCSU, and Shaw University. She earned certificates in management development from Harvard University and is listed as an arbitrator with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services, the National Mediation Board, and the American Arbitration Association. She is also a special magistrate with the Florida Public Employee Relations Commission and a senior consultant for Academic Search, Inc. She also serves as a consultant on governance, the presidency and other higher education topics. At Shaw University from 2009 to 2010,

she was able to stabilize the financial state of the university, which was listed in the Toxic Asset Group of BankAmerica, by securing a $31 million federal loan. She restructured and refinanced the university’s debt, balanced the budget, raised the composite financial index score to a positive number and recruited one of the largest freshmen classes in the history of the university. She retired September 2010. She arrived back at Shaw September 1, 2011, after the campus was torn apart by the April 16, 2011, tornado. By April 16, 2012, the devastation had been abated and all buildings were back in use. Yancy has earned the respect of the higher education community throughout her career. She served as a professor of history, technology and society and in the School of Management at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta) from 1972 to 1994. At Georgia Tech, she was the first African-American to be promoted and tenured as a full professor. Previously, she taught at several institutions including Albany State University, Hampton University, Evanston Township High School, and Barat College, where she was the director of the Afro-American Studies Program. Yancy was the first American to lecture at the Academy of Public Administration and Social Studies of the Small Hural in Ulan Bator, Mongolia in 1991. She has published more than 40 articles and labor arbitration cases in academic journals. She has served on many boards including the Board of Directors of Bank America of the Carolinas; Charlotte Chamber of Commerce; National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities; Council of Independent Colleges; and the Charlotte Urban League. Currently, she serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Morehouse College and Communities in School, Atlanta, and as an individual member of the United Negro College Fund. She has received numerous awards and accolades. In 2002 she was inducted into the most prestigious honor society in the nation, the Delta of Georgia Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, and in February 2011 she was recognized by Dominion in the “Strong Men and Women: Excellence in Leadership” series. She received the Honorary Alumni Award by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association in 2011, and in 2013 she was the recipient of the Dr. Dorothy I. Height Leadership Award from the International Salute to the Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., Washington, DC. Dr. Yancy holds a bachelor of arts degree in history and social science from Johnson C. Smith University, a master of arts degree in history from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Ph.D. in political science from Atlanta University. She has been awarded honorary doctorates from Virginia State University, Shaw University, and JCSU.

Lance Shipman Young serves as associate professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry at Morehouse College. He has served as a visiting scientist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, and as Lewis-Sigler Institute Fellow at Princeton University. Young has long been an advocate for curriculum reform geared toward more successful engagement of students in both the classroom and in the laboratory and has spearheaded several funded initiatives aimed at the total development of undergraduates in STEM.

He has served as an educational consultant for institutions seeking science education reform at the undergraduate level, including Clark Atlanta University, the University of the Virgin Islands, and North Carolina Central University, and he has extensive experience in training, development, and implementation related to Peer Led Team Learning (PLTL). Young has published several papers in the area of protein biochemistry and structural biology and, since joining the faculty at Morehouse in 2003, has mentored numerous undergraduates in his research laboratory—with the majority successfully pursuing terminal degrees in graduate and professional programs upon graduation. A graduate of Morehouse, he completed Ph.D. study at Texas A&M University and served as a FIRST postdoctoral fellow at Emory University School of Medicine.

STUDY STAFF

Leigh Miles Jackson, Ph.D., serves as the study director for the Board on Higher Education and Workforce’s consensus study, Closing the Equity Gap: Securing Our STEM Education and Workforce Readiness Infrastructure in the Nation’s Minority-Serving Institutions. Previously, Jackson worked in the Health and Medicine Division with the Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice and directed the report The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research. She also worked in the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education with the Board on Children, Youth, and Families and directed the report Advancing the Power of Economic Evidence to Inform Investments in Children, Youth, and Families. Prior to joining the National Academies, she was a developmental psychopathology and neurogenomics research fellow at Vanderbilt University, where she investigated the role of chronic sleep disturbance and specific epigenetic modifications on the health outcomes of adolescents. Jackson has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Wake Forest University and a Ph.D. in molecular and systems pharmacology from Emory University.

Barbara Natalizio, Ph.D., was a program officer with the Board on Higher Education and Workforce at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Prior to joining the Academies, she was an American Association for the Advancement of Science Science and Technology Policy Fellow serving in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Graduate Education, at the National Science Foundation. There, she gained a comprehensive awareness of and appreciation for effective evaluation, assessment, and policy that enables her continued support of higher education reform and STEM workforce development at the national level. Dr. Natalizio received her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and history from Montclair State University and her Ph.D. in molecular genetics and microbiology from Duke University.

Irene Ngun is an associate program officer with the Board on Higher Education and Workforce at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She also serves as associate program officer for the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine, a standing committee of the National Academies. Before joining the National Academies she was a congressional intern for the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (Democratic Office) and served briefly in the office of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas (D-33). Ngun received her M.A. from Yonsei Graduate School of International Studies (Seoul, South Korea), where she developed her interest in science policy. She received her B.A. from Goshen College in biochemistry and molecular biology and global economics.

Austen Applegate is a research associate with the Board on Higher Education and Workforce and the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Prior to joining the National Academies, he worked in a number of professional fields including international development, clinical research, and education. Applegate holds a B.A. from Guilford College in psychology and sociology. It was during this time he developed his interest in social science research and policy through his coursework in behavioral medicine, clinical assessment, public health, health policy, qualitative and quantitative research methodology, race and gender disparities, and social science history.

Thomas Rudin is the director of the Board on Higher Education and Workforce at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine—a position he assumed in mid-August 2014. Prior to joining the Academies, Rudin served as senior vice president for career readiness and senior vice president for advocacy, government relations and development at the College Board from 2006 to 2014. He was also vice president for government relations from 2004 to 2006 and executive director of grants planning and management from 1996 to 2004 at the College Board. Before joining the College Board, Rudin was a policy analyst at the National Institutes of Health. In 1991, Rudin taught courses in U.S. public policy, human rights, and organizational management as a visiting instructor at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. In the early 1980s, he directed the work of the Governor’s Task Force on Science and Technology for North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., where he was involved in several new state initiatives, such as the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Purdue University, and he holds master’s degrees in public administration and in social work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES FOR CONSULTANTS

Andrés Castro Samayoa is assistant professor of higher education at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College and assistant director for assessment and senior research associate at the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions. Born in El Salvador, Samayoa’s work seeks to improve educational experiences for students of color—specifically centering the work of Minority Serving Institutions in the postsecondary sector. His research projects focus on two interrelated lines of inquiry: one of them draws on sociohistorical perspectives on how federal policy making affects MSIs. Second, he focuses on contemporary approaches to cultivating a more equitable ethoracial representation in K-12 and postsecondary education, with a specific focus in the humanities and social sciences at Hispanic Serving Institutions. He has co-edited two books on Minority Serving Institutions: A Primer on Minority Serving Institutions (Routledge, in press) and Educational Challenges at Minority Serving Institutions (Routledge, 2017). His collaborative research has been published in Educational Sciences, Journal of Latinos & Education, American Educational Research Journal, and Teachers College Record. His work has been supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies in New York City. Samayoa received his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. Prior to his time at PennGSE, he completed an M.Phil. as a Gates Scholar at Cambridge University and a B.A. at Harvard University.

Marybeth Gasman is the Judy & Howard Berkowitz Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Her areas of expertise include the history of American higher education, Minority Serving Institutions (with an emphasis on Historically Black Colleges and Universities), racism and diversity, fundraising and philanthropy, and higher education leadership. Gasman is the founding director of the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), which works to amplify the contributions, strengthen, and support MSIs and those scholars interested in them. She holds secondary appointments in History, Africana Studies, and the School of Social Policy and Practice. Gasman is the author or editor of 25 books, including Educating a Diverse Nation (Harvard University Press, 2015 with Clif Conrad), Envisioning Black Colleges (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007), and Academics Going Public (Routledge Press, 2016). Her newest book, Making Black Scientists (with Thai-Huy Nguyen), is forthcoming with Harvard University Press. She has written more than 250 peer-reviewed articles, scholarly essays, and book chapters. Gasman has penned more than 450 opinion articles for the nation’s newspapers and magazines and is ranked by Education Week as one of the 10 most influential education scholars in the nation. She has raised more than $22 million in grant funding to support her research and that of her students, mentees, and MSI partners. She serves on the board of trustees of The College Board as well as Paul Quinn College, a small,

urban, Historically Black College in Dallas, Texas. She considers her proudest accomplishment to be receiving the University of Pennsylvania’s Provost Award for Distinguished Ph.D. Teaching and Mentoring, serving as the dissertation chair for more than 80 doctoral students since 2003.

DeShawn Preston is a program manager for institutional effectiveness at Morehouse School of Medicine. Previously he served as SEF’s Higher Education Research Fellow. He earned a Ph.D. in higher educational leadership at Clemson University, and his research agenda focuses on African American students in graduate and professional programs. He also received a policy certificate for the Strum Thurmond School of Policy. During his time at Clemson he served graduate assistantship in the Charles H. Houston Center for the Study of the Black Experience in Education. Preston also serves as a young scholar on the editorial board for the Journal of Negro Education. His research focuses on a number of issues pertaining to students of color in higher education. He has worked on several projects dealing with minorities students in STEM, the impact of developmental education on Black students. In addition to research, Preston considers himself to be an advocate for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Prior to joining SEF, Preston worked as a summer intern for the White House Initiative for HBCUs. During his tenure, he was instrumental in preparing for the national 2015 HBCU conference and authored a number of blog posts on strategies for how HBCUs can optimize their use of funding opportunities offered by the federal government. He has also served as a Graduate Research Fellow for the United Negro College Fund’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute. He holds a M.A. in American history from Howard University and a B.A. in history from Oakwood University.

Matthew Soldner currently serves as commissioner of the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE). Soldner was most recently a principal researcher at American Institutes for Research and is focused on postsecondary education. Soldner’s expertise is the analysis and translation of federal, state, and/or institutional data to products and tools that can inform the work of postsecondary policymakers, institutional leaders, and students and their families. Areas of expertise include transitions from high school or the workforce to college; undergraduate persistence and attainment outcomes; college financing and federal student aid programs; early labor market outcomes; career and technical education (CTE) at the postsecondary level; postbaccalaureate training; and methodological issues related to the design, execution, and evaluation of sample surveys. Prior to joining AIR, Soldner was a senior technical advisor for the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, providing methodological and analytic guidance on studies such as the National Postsecondary Study Aid Study, the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study, the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study, and the Integrated

Postsecondary Education Data System. His work has been presented at national conferences and published as book chapters and in journals such as the Journal of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, and the Journal of College Student Development. Soldner holds a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Morgan Taylor is a senior policy research analyst for the American Council on Education, where she manages research projects and analyzes quantitative and qualitative data on issues such as diversity, equity, and inclusion; Minority Serving Institutions; and institutional leadership. She also lends her expertise to matters related to higher education policy and governance. Prior to joining ACE, Taylor served as a research analyst at Excelencia in Education, where she used higher education policy, data analysis, and evidence-based institutional practices to develop reports and infographics on issues affecting Latinos in higher education. Through this work, Taylor interpreted quantitative research and data into policy, with the intention of adding a human connection to data. Taylor holds an M.P.P. in public policy from The George Washington University and a B.A. from Grand Valley State University.

Paula Whitacre is a writer and editor. She has worked with many divisions at the National Academies as an independent consultant, including Policy and Global Affairs, Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, and Agriculture and Natural Resources. She also has provided her expertise to many other organizations involved in education, the environment, health, and international development. She is the author of A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time (Potomac Books, 2017) and of articles on aspects of U.S. social history. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in international studies from Johns Hopkins University.

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