PAST Foundation
1003 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212
Speaker: Dr. Frederic Bertley (COSI), Elaine Larson (National Geographic Society)
The relationships between the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and global and cultural preparedness have become increasingly evident. STEM subjects are inherently global in nature and provide critical tools for tackling global issues such as climate change, migration, poverty, health, and global conflict, among others. Educators, policymakers, and scientists alike advocate that a substantive investment in STEM education is the pathway for countries to thrive economically and to lead in an interconnected world.
A trend in recent years has shown that foreign students graduating with STEM degrees from U.S. institutions are outpacing American students earning STEM credentials. Many of these students are multilingual and earning degrees outside their home countries, giving them considerable advantage in the global job market.
The Columbus Council on World Affairs invites you to join a dialogue about these and other issues as we consider the important intersection of cross-cultural and STEM education. Why is STEM education critical to countries’ economic prosperity and competitiveness? Why are global competency skills important in STEM education? What are the best practices for successfully preparing young people around the world to enter these jobs with global competency skills? What will the global field of STEM jobs look like in the coming decades?
To help us put these critical topics into context, we welcome the following distinguished guest speakers to lead our discussion:
Dr. Frederic Bertley is the President and Chief Executive Officer of COSI in Columbus, Ohio.
Elaine Larson is the Director of Education Grants for the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.
COSI
Dr. Frederic Bertley is the President and Chief Executive Officer of COSI in Columbus, Ohio and began his leadership of COSI in January of 2017. In his role as President, Dr. Bertley imagines COSI as the epicenter for all things scientific for the Columbus community.
Prior to joining COSI, Dr. Bertley was Senior Vice President for Science and Education with the renowned Franklin Institute in Philadelphia where he directed a diverse portfolio of visionary initiatives supporting innovation in STEM learning, and science communication, as well as departments and programs that capture the history and legacy of The Franklin Institute including the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Awards Program. Dr. Bertley also played a critical role in community outreach, partnerships and fundraising practices of the Institute.
Dr. Bertley directed various departments supporting research-based projects as well as program development and implementation. Dr. Bertley founded and directed the Color of Science™, which highlights the incredible contributions of women and persons of color to modern day science and engineering.
Dr. Bertley has a strong record in academia, studying Physiology, Mathematics, and the History of Science as an undergraduate student. Following his B.Sc., he obtained a Ph.D. in Immunology, both degrees from McGill University, and then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School.
After graduating from McGill, Dr. Bertley turned his attention to the lack of primary healthcare, preventative medicine, and basic vaccines in developing nations where he managed multinational teams in Haiti, The Sudan, and the Canadian Arctic. Dr. Bertley continued this focus by joining a vaccine research group at Harvard Medical School focusing on the development of DNA vaccines for HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Bertley has lectured on a variety of science and education topics at universities, colleges, cultural institutions, and government agencies throughout the world. He has keynoted and been an invited speaker at several distinguished institutions including The United Nations, The White House, the US Department of Interior, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Science Foundation here in the U.S., as well as in Canada, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, and Africa. Dr. Bertley sits on numerous boards including Health NewsWorks, iPRAXIS, and the Philadelphia Youth Poetry Movement (PYPM). He also is a member of the selection committee for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Public Engagement with Science Award. Dr. Bertley has received numerous honors some of which include: Dell Inc. Inspire 100 World Changers, Harvard Medical School Dean’s Service Award, Philadelphia Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, Philadelphia Business Journal Minority Business Leader of The Year, The President’s Award (Merck), Citation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and two Mid-Atlantic, National Academy of Television and Science EMMYsTM.
National Geographic Society
As Director of Education Grants at National Geographic, Elaine oversees a program that provides grants to a broad range of educators working in education situations that range from traditional K-12 to adult education—in domestic and international settings.
She continues to build the Nat Geo Learning Framework, which communicates the Society’s values around teaching and learning to internal resource developers and to its many external audiences. Her career experiences have focused largely on the development of instructional resources for K-12 students and teachers—as well as adult education and teacher professional development.
Elaine worked for 7+ years in public broadcasting, directing the provision of services to schools in a statewide market and overseeing programming and production of instructional media. Her work has included classroom teaching, website development, preparation of digital content for online delivery, marketing, writing, and research.
Elaine has a masters degree in education administration/adult and higher education and a bachelors degree in English education and history.