Deborah Pomeroy Fairbanks, AK | 7-12, Science, 1984

After graduating from Colorado State University, Deborah Pomeroy started her career in research at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and at the Institute of Arctic Biology in Fairbanks, Alaska. Realizing she wanted to teach, she got her teaching credential from the University of Alaska – Fairbanks (UAF) and taught science - mostly chemistry - in Fairbanks. In 1984, while teaching at West Valley High School, Deborah received the PAEMST Award. The meetings and discussions in Washington, DC, clarified to her that she was becoming more interested in teacher education. After the award, she completed her M.Ed. at UAF and her doctorate from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Deborah then taught science teacher education at Arcadia, a small university in the Philadelphia area. While there, she worked on several integrated science curriculum and professional development projects and helped write and then run an NSF grant. She and her colleagues ran a nine-year MSP program in the greater Philadelphia area with 47 high schools and universities. She co-founded 21PSTEM to do additional projects and grants. Deborah tried to retire but was called back to work on a USAID project in Egypt. This project helped establish 21 brand new STEM high schools with a revolutionary integrated curriculum focused on educating the students to solve Egypt's grand challenges. Her work focused on helping develop and implement the integrated curriculum and on professional development. Many people ask if this kind of project could be replicated in the United States. To answer this question, Deborah, alongside 21PSTEM president Joe Merlino, co-authored book entitled “New Era - New Urgency: The Case for Repurposing Education”. Recently, Deborah has been featured on select podcasts and interviews.

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