The  National Science Resources Center has named Rowena S. Douglas as its new Deputy Director of Program Planning and Management, effective Oct. 27, 2008.

The NSRC, headquartered in Washington, D.C., was established in 1985 by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Academies. Its mission is to improve the learning and teaching of science for all students in the United States and throughout the world.  The NSRC collects and disseminates information about exemplary science teaching resources, disseminates research-based science curriculum materials, and helps school systems improve their K-12 science education programs based on research and best practices.

In her new position, Douglas will oversee the design, development and evaluation of external relations and outreach programs for the NSRC’s three Centers of Excellence: the Building Awareness of Science Education Center; the Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform Center; and the Professional Development Center.  She will also be working closely with the NSRC’s international network of prominent scientists, sciences educators, school system officials, chief state school officers, science museum administrators, and corporate leaders who are actively engaged in efforts to improve pre-college science education.

"I am thrilled about working for an organization for which I have so much respect," Douglas said.

Douglas comes to the NSRC from the National Science Teachers Association, where she served as the assistant executive director since 2003. While there, she developed and implemented a broad-based professional development component across all association’s programs and products, including conventions, and publications.

Prior to her tenure at the National Science Teachers Association, Douglas spent four years at the National Science Foundation where she was a program director in the Division of Elementary, Secondary and Informal Education. There she focused on both the foundation’s Teacher Enhancement Program and the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching Program.

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