Dr. Shirley Malcom

Head, Education and Human Resources Directorate - American Association for the Advancement of Science - AAAS

Biography

Dr. Malcom is Head of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources Programs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The directorate includes AAAS programs in education, activities for underrepresented groups, and public understanding of science and technology. She was also the Head of the AAAS Office of Opportunities in Science from 1979 to 1989, and between 1977 and 1979, she served as program officer in the Science Education Directorate of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Prior to this, she held the rank of Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, and for two years was a high school science teacher.

She received her doctoral degree in Ecology from Pennsylvania State University and a Master's of Science in Zoology from the University of California, Los Angeles. She graduated with her Bachelors of Science degree, with distinction, in Zoology from the University of Washington. She also holds 15 honorary degrees.

Dr. Malcom serves on several boards, including the Heinz Endowments and the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment. She also serves as a Regent of Morgan State University and as a Trustee of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). She is an Honorary Trustee of the American Museum of Natural History.

In 2006, she was named as co-chair (with Leon Lederman) of the National Science Board Commission on 21st Century Education in science, technology, education and math (STEM). In addition, she has chaired a number of national committees addressing education reform and access to scientific and technical education, careers and literacy. Dr. Malcom is a former Trustee of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. She is a Fellow of the AAAS and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has also served on the National Science Board, the policymaking body of the National Science Foundation, from 1994 to 1998, and from 1994 to 2001, she served on the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology.

In 2003, Dr. Malcom received the Public Welfare Medal of the National Academy of Sciences, the highest award given by the Academy.