STEM and Social Justice: Teaching and Learning in Diverse Settings: A Global Perspective

Cheryl B. Leggon is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  Dr. Leggon’s research underscores the criticality of disaggregating data by race/ethnicity and gender to develop policy, programs, and practices that enhance the quality of the United States’ science and engineering labor forces.  She was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for her work on women of color―African American, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, and Native American―in science and engineering in the United States.  In 2006, she was elected to membership in Sigma Xi. In 2013, Dr. Leggon was appointed to the Human Resources Expert Panel (HREP), National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) of the National Science Foundation. Before coming to Georgia Tech in 2002, she was Director of Women’s Studies and Associate Professor of Sociology at Wake Forest University and prior to that aStaff Officer in the Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel, National Research Council, National Academies. Dr. Leggon earned the PhD in Sociology from the University of Chicago, and the BA in Sociology from Barnard College, Columbia University.

Michael Gaines is Professor of Biology, Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Research and Director of Pre-health Advising and Mentoring at the University of Miami (UM). Gaines earned a B.S. degree at Tulane University and his Masters and Ph.D. degrees at Indiana University. His research is on the effects of grazing and burning on microbial diversity in Kruger National Park in South Africa. Gaines is director of UM’s HHMI Undergraduate Education Program. The major goal of the program is to increase the number of underrepresented students in research careers. He also directs a NIGMS Bridge Program between UM and Miami Dade College (MDC) and an NSF S-STEM Program.  Both of these programs aim to increase the number of MDC students who are underrepresented in the sciences transferring to research universities and completing baccalaureate degrees. In addition, Gaines serves as campus coordinator for the NSF Florida-Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation and the Leadership Alliance Programs.  These programs provide research experiences for underrepresented students in STEM. He also directs an NIGMS Initiative for Maximizing Student Development which is a research training program that supports graduate students from underrepresented groups pursuing Ph.D.s. Gaines directs the Science Made Sensible Program which partners UM pre-service teachers with Miami-Dade County in-service middle school teachers to develop science curricula in their classrooms. Gaines teaches undergraduate courses in general biology and bioethics.