The Noyce Program supports the role of NSF as central to discovering, studying, and promoting pathways for STEM teacher education through research and development. The NSF Noyce Program Directors represent a talented group of individuals charged with ensuring that every program in their portfolio will be delivered successfully. Read about the current group of Program Directors who oversee the Noyce projects.
Sandra Richardson, Program LeadSandra Richardson is the Program Lead for the Noyce Program. Prior to her permanent assignment at the National Science Foundation, she served as an Associate Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Education at Virginia State University. Her research is in developing pedagogical content knowledge for pre-service teachers and effective means of diversifying the STEM teacher pipeline. She brings her expertise in teacher professional development and broadening participation efforts to the Noyce Program.
Kathleen B. Bergin, Program LeadKathleen B. Bergin is the Program Lead for the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. She came to her permanent assignment at the National Science Foundation after she retired from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. In addition to passions for equity and diversity in STEM education, Bergin has focused on the importance of changing how teachers/instructors and learners engage in the process of questioning. She brings her expertise as a biologist by training and educator by passion to the Noyce team and is a strong advocate for STEM majors becoming teachers.
Susan Carson, Program DirectorSue Carson is a Professor of Plant & Microbial Biology at North Carolina State University where she led course and curriculum development for the Biotechnology Program for over a decade and more recently, directed the university-wide Quality Enhancement Plan, focused on faculty development and enhancing students’ critical and creative thinking skills across disciplines. Sue began her rotation as a Program Director at NSF in July and is excited to begin work with the Noyce Program.
Michael Ferrara, Program DirectorMichael Ferrara joined NSF as a permanent program officer after serving as a professor in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at the University of Colorado Denver. His education research interests include understanding how outreach and peer teaching experiences impact undergraduate STEM majors and the mathematical and pedagogical preparation of K-12 teachers and graduate teaching assistants. He brings experiences as an informal and classroom educator, a research mathematician, and a mentor to teachers and learners in a breadth of settings to his work at NSF.
Thomas Kim, Program DirectorThomas D. Kim is from St. John Fisher College where he is a Professor of Chemistry and served as Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on Chemistry Education Research, specifically the examination of the expert-novice divide as it pertains to the use and perception of external representations. He served as a program director for the Noyce program during a previous term as a rotator in the Division of Undergraduate Education at NSF.
Jennifer Lewis, Program DirectorJennifer Lewis is a Program Director from the University of South Florida, Tampa, where she is a Professor and Graduate Director. She also serves as the Director of the Center for the Improvement of Teaching and Research in Undergraduate STEM Education (CITRUS). Lewis’s research includes discipline-based educational research in the field of chemistry. She brings her expertise as an experienced project evaluator to the Noyce Program.
Robert Mayes, Program DirectorRobert Mayes joins NSF from Georgia Southern University where he is a research professor of mathematics education. His research areas include interdisciplinary STEM, quantitative reasoning in STEM teaching and learning, quantitative biology at the undergraduate level, and mathematical modeling and problem solving in grades 6-12 and undergraduate level.
Andrea L. Nixon, Program Director8Andrea L. Nixon is a Program Director from Carleton College, Northfield, MN, where she is the Director of Educational Research. Her research includes studies in undergraduate help seeking behaviors, as well as, educational technologies and curricular and research support for undergraduate students. Nixon brings her extensive research experience in qualitative and mixed methods as they related to longitudinal and meta-analysis to the Noyce Program.
