ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:
Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Assistant Director, Directorate for Education and Human Resources, National Science Foundation
Joan Ferrini-Mundy is the National Science Foundation’s assistant director who leads NSF’s Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), a position she has held since February 2011. Ferrini-Mundy is responsible for setting the vision and establishing the mission of EHR, whose budget in FY 2012 was more than $800 million, with a staff of more than 150 people. She serves as a member of the NSF Senior Management Team and is involved in strategic planning and direction for the scientific and education mission of the NSF. Ferrini-Mundy’s current activities include a government-wide performance management effort; a leadership role in defining the NSF’s budget priorities for FY 2013 and 2014; and an ongoing collaboration with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in developing a government-wide strategic plan for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce development. From 2007 through January 2011, she was an NSF member of the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Subcommittee on Education of the Committee on Science, and currently serves on two task forces of the new NSTC Committee on STEM Education. Ferrini-Mundy is currently a member of the Mathematics Expert Group of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). In 2007–2008, representing the NSF, she served as an ex-officio member of the President’s National Mathematics Advisory Panel. She has served on the Board of Directors of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and on the Board of Governors of the Mathematical Association of America. Ferrini-Mundy holds a PhD in Mathematics Education from the University of New Hampshire. Ferrini-Mundy holds an appointment at Michigan State University (MSU) as a University Distinguished Professor of Mathematics Education in the Departments of Mathematics and Teacher Education.
Greg Bialecki, Secretary, Housing and Economic Development, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Gregory Bialecki has served as the Secretary of Housing and Economic Development for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since his appointment in 2009. As Governor Patrick’s chief housing and economic development advisor and cabinet member, Secretary Bialecki has oversight of 14 state agencies that carry out on the Administration’s top priorities in business development, housing and community development, consumer affairs, and business regulation. The focus of his Secretariat is the creation of homes and jobs in the Commonwealth. To that end, he has aligned the state’s housing and economic development priorities to coordinate policies and programs that ensure Massachusetts maintains its global competitive edge. Secretary Bialecki has been the architect of the Patrick-Murray Administration’s Growth Districts Initiative, oversaw the implementation of the Massachusetts Opportunity Relocation & Expansion (MORE) Jobs capital program, worked with the Governor and Legislature to reform the Economic Development Incentive Program, and is the driving force behind the state’s 10,000 unit-per-year housing goal. He also served as the Commonwealth’s first Permitting Ombudsman. Working in collaboration with 34 members of the private and public sector, Secretary Bialecki led the development and implementation of the Commonwealth’s Economic Development Plan, entitled “Choosing to Compete in the 21st Century.” The plan identified five areas of focus and 55 action items to improve economic development and job creation in the state. Through the execution of this plan, Massachusetts was able to recover from the recession faster and stronger than the rest of the nation and is poised to remain a national and global economic leader. To learn more, please visit www.Mass.gov/compete. Before joining the Patrick-Murray Administration as the Undersecretary for Business Development, Secretary Bialecki enjoyed a 20-year career as a real estate development and environmental lawyer at the law firms of Hill & Barlow and DLA Piper Rudnick. His legal work focused on major urban redevelopment projects in the Greater Boston area. Secretary Bialecki graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
Joseph Kennedy III, Congressman, Fourth District of Massachusetts, U.S. House of Representatives
Joseph P. Kennedy III is proud to serve the Fourth District of Massachusetts in Congress. Having dedicated his career to public service, Kennedy brings a firm commitment to social justice and economic opportunity to the U.S. House of Representatives. Elected in November of 2012, he represents a diverse district that spans from the suburbs of Boston to the more industrial towns of Massachusetts’ South Coast. Prior to seeking office, Kennedy served the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as an assistant district attorney in both the Middlesex County and Cape and Island’s District Attorneys’ Offices. A graduate of Harvard Law, he was an active member of the school’s Legal Aid Bureau—a pro-bono law firm that provided legal services to low-income families around Boston. During that time he also co-founded an afterschool program for at-risk youth in the Boston area with his wife, Lauren. Earlier in his career Kennedy served as a member of the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic where he designed and implemented an economic development project that helped create jobs and increase the standard of living in an isolated community near Puerto Plata. He has also worked as an international development analyst for the United Nations’ Millennium Project and as an anti-poverty consultant abroad. He is fluent in Spanish and currently sits on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, as well as the House Committee on Science and Technology. Kennedy holds a bachelor’s degree in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University.
Richard Miller, President and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Olin College of Engineering
Richard K. Miller was appointed president and first employee of Olin College of Engineering in 1999. He served as dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Iowa from 1992-99. The previous 17 years were spent on the Engineering faculty at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and the University of California, Santa Barbara. With a background in applied mechanics and current interests in innovation in higher education, Miller is the author of more than 100 reviewed journal articles and other technical publications. Together with two Olin colleagues, he received the 2013 Bernard M. Gordon Prize from the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education. A member of the NAE, he received the Marlowe Award for creative and distinguished administrative leadership from the American Society for Engineering Education in 2011. Miller served as chair of the Engineering Advisory Committee of the National Science Foundation and has served on advisory boards and committees for Harvard University, Stanford University, the NAE, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, in addition to others. Furthermore, he has served as a consultant to the World Bank in the establishment of new universities. A frequent speaker on engineering education, he received the 2002 Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award from the University of California at Davis, where he earned his BS. He earned his MS from MIT, and PhD from the California Institute of Technology, where he received the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award.
