[May 24, 2016]

Lemelson-MIT Program Appoints Stephanie Couch as Executive Director

The Lemelson-MIT Program today announced the hire of Dr. Stephanie Couch as executive director of the Lemelson-MIT (News - Alert) Program. Couch brings 16 years of experience in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education policy, research, development and deployment and strategic fundraising. In her new role, she will oversee the development and growth of partnerships and guide Lemelson-MIT's prestigious invention award and grant programs.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160524006060/en/

Lemelson-MIT Program Appoints Stephanie Couch as Executive Director (Photo: Business Wire)

"Couch's leadership experience in education and passion for invention and STEM education make her an ideal executive director," said Michael Cima, faculty director of the Lemelson-MIT Program. "Dr. Couch's appointment will greatly help Lemelson-MIT increase the national discussion about invention's role in education and prosperity."

The Lemelson-MIT Program celebrates outstanding inventors and inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention. The program administers the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize awarded annually to an outstanding mid-career inventor, and the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize, which honors promising collegiate inventors across the country. The program's invention education initiatives include InvenTeams, a national grants initiative for high school students, educators and mentors to invent technological solutions to real-world problems, and JV InvenTeams, a program for students in grades 7-10 to hone their hands-on skills and enrich their STEM education through invention-based design activities.

"Invention education takes the progress we have been making over the last five years in STEM education to a new level. It creates exciting opportunities for young people to apply new knowledge in ways that can make a difference in the world," said Couch. "By recognizing mid-career inventors and college students who have profound inventive accomplishments, young people see role models who can inspire them to greatness."

Couch previously drove research and professional development as the interim associate vice president at California State University East Bay and served as Bayer executive director of the Institute for STEM Education and the director for Gateways East Bay STEM Network at California State University East Bay. Couch also helped design and launch the statewide California STEM Learning Network (CSLNet). She has won numerous awards for her leadership role in advancing STEM education in California. Most recently, she was selected as one of San Francisco Business Times' Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business for 2016 and inducted into Alameda County Women's Hall of Fame in the education category. In 2015, she received the Biotechnology Educator of the Year Award from California Life Sciences Association. She will join the Lemelson-MIT Program July 11.

ABOUT THE LEMELSON-MIT PROGRAM

Celebrating invention, inspiring youth

The Lemelson-MIT Program celebrates outstanding inventors and inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention.

Jerome H. Lemelson, one of U.S. history's most prolific inventors, and his wife Dorothy founded the Lemelson-MIT Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994. It is funded by The Lemelson Foundation and administered by the School of Engineering at MIT, an institution with a strong ongoing commitment to creating meaningful opportunities for K-12 STEM education. For more information, visit Lemelson.MIT.edu.

ABOUT THE LEMELSON FOUNDATION

Based in Portland, The Lemelson Foundation uses the power of invention to improve lives. Inspired by the belief that invention can solve many of the biggest economic and social challenges of our time, the Foundation helps the next generation of inventors and invention-based businesses to flourish. The Lemelson Foundation was established in the early 1990s by prolific inventor Jerome Lemelson and his wife Dorothy. To date the Foundation has made grants totaling over $200 million in support of its mission. For more information, visit http://lemelson.org.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160524006060/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]