John Glenn, Commission Chair, was the first American astronaut to orbit the earth in 1962, for which he received the Space Congressional Medal of Honor. After 23 years of distinguished service in the Marine Corps, Glenn retired in 1965. He took an active part in politics and won his first Senate seat from Ohio in 1974. In 1992, John Glenn was elected for his fourth consecutive term as senator. The former astronaut returned to space in 1998 aboard the shuttle Discovery making him the oldest person to fly in space. That same year, the Ohio State University announced the establishment of the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy. The Glenn Institute reflects Glenn's lifelong dedication to public service and its programs encourage that same kind of enduring commitment in our youth and all those who serve the public.
Linda P. Rosen, Commission Executive Director, is Senior Advisor in mathematics and science education at the US Department of Education. She directs America Counts, a Department-wide effort to ensure that all students master the foundations of algebra and geometry by the end of eighth grade. Rosen was previously Executive Director of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Associate Executive Director and Director of Policy Studies with the Mathematical Sciences Education Board within the National Academy of Sciences, and taught mathematics at the high school, two-year college, and university levels.
Deborah Loewenberg Ball, Ann Arbor, MI, is an Arthur F. Thurnau professor of mathematics education and teacher education at the University of Michigan. Her work as a researcher and teacher educator is rooted in her own experience as a classroom teacher and focuses on studies of instruction and the processes of learning to teach. She also investigates efforts to improve teaching through policy, reform initiatives and teacher education. Currently, Ball is co-directing a longitudinal study designed to improve instruction and learning in mathematics in high-poverty elementary schools and is also directing a study focusing on the practice of elementary mathematics teaching.
Craig R. Barrett, Paradise Valley, AZ, is the president and chief executive officer of Intel Corporation. He was an associate professor of materials science at Stanford University until 1974 when he joined Intel. Barrett was a Fulbright fellow at Danish Technical University in Denmark in 1972 and a NATO postdoctoral fellow at the National Physical Laboratory in England from 1964-1965. Dr. Barrett, author of over 40 technical papers and a materials science textbook, is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Diane Briars, Pittsburgh, PA, is mathematics director of the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the co-director of PRIME, the Pittsburgh Reform in Mathematics Education project. Briars is a former director of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and is currently a College Board Visiting Scholar, as well as a member of the National Science Foundation Advisory Committee for Education and Human Resources. She previously was a member of the mathematics education faculty at Northern Illinois University and taught mathematics at Robert Morris College.
Representative Cynthia Moore Chestnut, Gainesville, FL, is a member of the Florida House representing District 23 and is director of educational and communications programs at Community Health Center at Eastside. She is also involved with the Southeastern Regional Vision for Education (SERVE) and the Florida Commission on Education Reform and Accountability. She is the past president (1987-88) of the Florida Association of Student Services Administrators.
Sandra Feldman, New York, NY, is the president of the American Federation of Teachers and is on the executive council of the AFL-CIO. Feldman is a former teacher and was president of the 130,000 member United Federation of Teachers of New York City from 1986-1997. An active participant in AFT's international work, Feldman is also vice president of Education International, an organization of teacher unions in democratic countries. She is widely recognized as an authority on urban education and an advocate for children.
Governor Jim Geringer, Wyoming, was recent chairman of the Education Commission of the States, and past chairman of the Western Governors' Association and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. He also chairs the Western Governors' Association. Geringer currently sits on the National Goals 2000 Panel and is a board member of the Western Governors' University. He has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and worked on a variety of aerospace programs for both the Air Force and NASA. Prior to becoming governor, he served in both the Wyoming House of Representatives and the Wyoming State Senate.
Javier Gonzalez, Whittier, CA, is a mathematics teacher and math department chair at Pioneer High School. He is also a guest speaker/instructor for Professional Development Programs for Educators at the University of San Diego. In 1997, he was elected to a 4-year term on the Whittier City School District Board. Gonzales has been named California Teacher of the Year. He has also received the Mexican-American Cultural Institute Community Award.
Jerilyn Grignon, Neopit, WI, is technology instructor for junior high school at Menominee Indian High School in Neopit, WI. She speaks and conducts evaluations about mathematics and computers, cultural aspects of teaching and learning and cultural factors within curriculum and instruction. In 1996, Grignon co-directed the 1996 NSF Summer Science Camp held at the College of the Menominee Nation.
Jeffrey Himmelstein, Maplewood, NJ, serves as an adjunct Professor of Biology at William Patterson University in Wayne, NJ. He has recently retired as Science Supervisor for Livingston Public Schools in Livingston, NJ. Himmelstein has taught science education at both the high school and K-8 levels, as well as at the university level. He is past chairperson of the Special Education Advisory Board of the National Science Teachers Association and is Past President of the Science Association for Persons with Disabilities.
Representative Rush Holt, NJ, represents the state's 12th District in the U.S. Congress. He has held positions as a teacher, Congressional Science Fellow, research scientist, and arms control expert for the U.S. State Department. Holt also served as an assistant director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory from 1989 to 1998. In Congress, he sits on Committees on Education and the Workforce, Budget, and Resources.
Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., NC, is serving his fourth term as governor of the state. As governor in 1997, he developed and proposed the Excellent Schools Act. This comprehensive act raised standards and pay for teachers. As a result of that Act, teacher pay in North Carolina has risen dramatically. At the same time, investments in teacher professionalism have paid off in significant gains in student achievement. Governor Hunt is the chair of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future and is the Founding Chair for Professional Teaching Standards, which he chaired actively from 1987-1997. Hunt serves as the chair for the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and is a member of the National Education Goals Panel.
Sen. James M. Jeffords, VT is serving his second term in the U.S. Senate. Prior to his election to the Senate, Jeffords served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1975 to 1988 where he was the ranking Republican member of the House Education and Labor Committee. He is chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and also serves on the Finance, Veterans' Affairs, and Special Aging Committees.
Anne Jolly, Mobile, AL, is the Science Department chair at Cranford Burns Middle School. Jolly was the 1994 Alabama State Teacher of the Year and has held the position of executive director of the Alabama State Teacher Forum since 1994. In 1996 she was a panel member for the President's Southern Region Economic Conference and was on the National Steering Committee for the America Goes Back to School community involvement initiative.
Nancy Keenan, Helena, MT, is Montana superintendent of public instruction, a post to which she was first elected in 1989. In November of 1999, she was elected president of the Council of Chief State School Officers. Before becoming superintendent, Keenan served three sessions in the Montana House of Representatives, where she served on the Taxation, Education, Local Government, and Revenue Oversight Committees, and chaired the Human Services and Aging Committee.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts ranks third in seniority in the U.S. Senate. Kennedy is the ranking Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. He also serves on the Judiciary, Armed Services, and Joint Economic Committees.
Paul L. Kimmelman, Buffalo Grove, IL, is superintendent of West Northfield School District No. 31 in Northbrook, Ill. Kimmelman is an ex-officio member of TIMSS-R Technical Review Panel. He was also the coordinator of First in the World Consortium (1995), a group of school districts that elected to take the Third International Mathematics and Science Study and to use the results as a benchmark.
William Kirwan, Columbus, OH, became the 12th president of The Ohio State University in July 1, 1998. Prior to becoming president of Ohio State, Kirwan was president of the University of Maryland, College Park, where he served as a professor and administrator for 34 years. He serves on numerous boards, and is a member of several honorary and professional societies, including the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America. He recently chaired the Mathematical Sciences in the Year 2000 Committee, a task force created by the National Research Council to improve mathematics education at the nation's colleges and universities.
Maria Alicia Lopez-Freeman, Monterey Park, CA, is executive director of the California Science Project and Director for the Center for Teacher Leadership in Language and Status Issues at UCLA. She has taught science in large urban inner-city high schools, and is currently working in science professional development, science education research, and educational change. Lopez-Freeman serves on the Expert Panel in Mathematics and Science Education for the US department of Education, and is a member of the Committee on Science Education K-12 of the National Research Council's Center for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Education.
Walter E. Massey, Atlanta, GA, is president of Morehouse College. Massey is former director of the National Science Foundation, appointed by President Bush. He also served as the chairman and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Massey's past administrative and academic positions include provost and senior vice president-academic affairs of the University of California and vice president for research at The University of Chicago.
Iris T. Metts, Upper Marlboro, MD, is the Superintendent of Schools for the Prince George's County Public School System. Prior to this position, she was the Secretary of Education for the State of Delaware. Previously, from 1990 to 1997, Metts served as Superintendent of Schools for the Christina School District of Newark, Delaware. She also has a bachelor's of science and a master's of arts in both physics and mathematics.
Representative Connie Morella, Maryland, represents the state's 8th District. Morella is the chair of the Technology Subcommittee of the House Science Committee and has been a leader in addressing the Y2K computer problem, increasing computer security, and educational technology. Congresswoman Morella passed legislation in the 105th Congress, which created a Commission on the Advancement of Women, Minorities and Individuals with Disabilities in Science, Engineering, and Technology. She is recognized nationally for her work on children's issues, domestic violence, and women's health, educational and economic equity issues.
Dennis Van Roekel, Phoenix, AZ, is the secretary-treasurer of the National Education Association, a post to which he was elected in 1997. Mr. Van Roekel taught mathematics from 1974-1997 at Paradise Valley high school in Phoenix and also served as president of the Arizona Education Association from 1982 to 1988.
Edward B. Rust, Jr., Bloomington, IL, is chairman and chief executive officer of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. He is also chairman of the National Alliance of Business. He serves as the chairman of the Business Roundtable's Education Task Force and is chairman of the Illinois Business Roundtable. Mr. Rust is a former member of the advisory council of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Chang-Lin Tien, Berkeley, CA, is a University Professor for the 10-campus University of California system, and has been the NEC Distinguished Professor of Engineering at its Berkeley campus since 1997. Prior to that he served as U.C. Berkeley's seventh chancellor. An elected member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Tien has been active in many community relations activities and educational reform programs including those in primary and secondary schools.
Ex Officio Members
Richard W. Riley, U.S. Secretary of Education
National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching Home
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