Deputy Assistant Director (Acting), Directorate for Education and Human Resources, National Science Foundation
Barbara Olds is acting deputy assistant director in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the NSF on a full-time basis, she was a faculty member at the Colorado School of Mines for many years, serving most recently as associate provost for educational innovation and professor of liberal arts and international studies. During her career at Mines, Olds also served as the principal tutor/director of the McBride Honors Program in Public Affairs for Engineers and as the director of the EPICS program. From 2003 to 2006, Olds was a “rotator” at the NSF, where she served as the division director for the Division of Research, Evaluation and Communication (REC) in the EHR Directorate. During the 2006–2007 academic year she was a visiting professor in Purdue University’s Engineering Education Department. Her research interests lie primarily in understanding and assessing engineering students’ learning. She has participated in a number of curriculum innovation projects and has been active in the engineering education research and assessment communities. She has published widely on engineering education topics and has made numerous presentations and conducted workshops throughout the United States and around the world, including China, Abu Dhabi, South Africa, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia. She is a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education and was a Fulbright lecturer/researcher in Sweden.
