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More information about:
The CRI: An Agenda for Educational Success
The STEM Initiative
Questions or commentary?
info@bhef.com
202.367.1189
Newsletter editor
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December 2009/January 2010
News from BHEF
Breaking News
We are pleased to announce that BHEF has received a $417,517 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This grant will enable BHEF to adapt the U.S. STEM Education Model to examine science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education policies at the state level and also to explore ways to expand the model's use by federal and state education policymakers in STEM and other areas. This grant builds on a 2008 Gates Foundation grant supporting BHEF's STEM and College Readiness, Access and Success (CRI) initiatives. We encourage you to post the BHEF news release on your organizations' Web sites and to forward the release to your colleagues and others whom you believe would be interested in BHEF's work.
Winter Meeting Update
Registrations for BHEF's 2010 Winter Meeting, which will take place February 4-5 in Southern California, are coming in strong. If you haven't already, make sure you mark your calendars and go to the BHEF Winter Meeting Registration page (click here to register). The member meeting will begin with a 6 p.m. reception and dinner on February 4 at The Ritz Carlton, Marina del Rey, where members and guests will stay. On February 5, morning and afternoon plenary sessions will be held at the Raytheon Company's facility in El Segundo. A closing reception and dinner will take place at The Ritz Carlton the evening of February 5. Under Secretary of Education Martha Kanter, the Council of Graduate Schools' (CGS) President Debra Stewart, and Spencer Foundation President Michael McPherson, co-author of "Crossing the Finish Line," and National Academy of Engineering President Charles Vest have already accepted invitations to speak at the meeting about emerging P-12 and higher education policy issues. View the agenda online. Other invited speakers include U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), and Superintendent, California Department of Public Instruction, Jack O'Connell. We will continue to update you on confirmed speakers and look forward to seeing you at the Winter Meeting. Please don't hesitate to contact BHEF if you have any questions.
College Readiness, Access and Success Initiative (CRI)
We are pleased to announce that BHEF, in conjunction with the Harvard Graduate School of Education, will hold the second Institute for Strategic Investment in Education (ISIE II): Capitalizing on Corporate Philanthropy, on April 7-9 at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The inaugural ISIE was developed to help corporate and private philanthropists make the most of their education investments. The economic climate of the last 18 months has only heightened the need for effective, efficient philanthropy. The institute will bring together senior corporate philanthropy leaders to work in an intimate setting with Harvard faculty and select foundation leaders. Complete with fresh content and small group discussions, ISIE II will provide a valuable experience for returning participants, as well as newcomers. We think this unique symposium will be incredibly valuable to your organization, and that your staff will come away from it with concrete strategies for improvement. We hope you will encourage your corporate philanthropy leaders to attend! They can register by clicking here.
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Initiative
BHEF Executive Director Brian K. Fitzgerald in late November attended a White House event during which President Obama announced a new education campaign—Educate to Innovate. The goal of the campaign is to enlist companies and nonprofit groups to spend money, time and volunteer effort to encourage students, especially in middle and high school, to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Click here to read the BHEF news release about the event, and to see a video clip of the event.
Separately, BHEF signed on to a letter by the Tapping America's Potential (TAP), a coalition of the nation's leading business organizations, which announced that group's renewed commitments to improving STEM education in the United States. Click here to read the letter. To learn more about Educate to Innovate campaign, click here.
Building on momentum to strengthen the quality of STEM education for all students, BHEF in December was one of several convening organizations at the "Race to the Top: Public Private Collaboration to Strengthen STEM Education: A Resource Conference for State Teams" conference in Baltimore. More than 30 states attended the event, which was organized by the National Governors Association. In addition, BHEF staff presented the U.S. STEM Education Model at the National Training and Simulation Association meeting in Orlando, as well as demonstrated its model to U.S. Department of Education staff.
In other related news, BHEF supported National Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek), December 6-12, an effort to raise the profile of computer science as a transforming industry that drives technology innovation and bolsters economic productivity. Learn more here by clicking here.
Member News
Congratulations to BHEF members E. Gordon Gee, Michael Crow, Eduardó J. Padron, and Mark G. Yudof, who recently were named by Time magazine as among the nation's top 10 college presidents. Click here to read the BHEF news release. Read the Time article here.
Welcome to new member, Tara O’Toole, recently confirmed as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Under Secretary for Science and Technology. Before becoming Under Secretary, most recently Dr. O’Toole was the CEO and Director of the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Professor of Medicine and of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. The DHS Science and Technology Directorate is DHS’ primary research and development arm. As such, it has significant interest in STEM education in the U.S., and its programs and initiatives align with BHEF’s STEM Initiative.
Best wishes to Cal Poly President Warren J. Baker, who is retiring after more than three decades on the job. A member of BHEF's Executive Committee, Baker also is co-chair of BHEF's Securing America's Leadership in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Initiative, along with Cal Poly alumnus Bill Swanson, who is chairman and CEO of the Raytheon Company. Under their leadership, BHEF produced two significant reports on K-12 science and math education, "An American Imperative: Transforming the Recruitment, Renewal and Retention of our Nation's Mathematics and Science Teaching Workforce" and "A Commitment to America's Future: Responding to the Crisis in Mathematics and Science Education." They also have been instrumental in advancing the U.S. STEM Education Model, developed by Raytheon and donated to BHEF earlier this year. Read more about Baker's retirement by clicking here. |
