President

TERC, a leader in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education research, seeks a committed, collaborative, and strategic leader to propel the organization forward as its next President. An independent research nonprofit organization, TERC improves the teaching and learning of STEM through research, curriculum and technology development, educator professional development, evaluation, and support for reform in formal and informal learning environments. TERC researchers and staff are committed to a future in which diverse communities of learners regularly engage in creative, rigorous, and reflective inquiry, and where educators, children, and youth celebrate questioning, problem-solving, and experimentation. TERC’s next President will steward the organization through the continued evolution of research and discovery, build and facilitate external partnerships, secure TERC’s financial future, and continue to develop an organizational structure and culture that meets the demands of a post-pandemic and remote work environment.  

TERC researchers, educators, and scientists collaborate closely with schools, school districts, institutions of higher education, other nonprofit STEM education and research organizations, and a host of informal education settings, including science centers, museums, industry, out-of-school time programs, libraries, and social service, youth-serving, and community-based organizations. At any given time, TERC’s over 80 employees lead more than 100 projects involving learners across early childhood, K-12, undergraduate, graduate, and informal and adult education spaces. TERC has become a national thought leader in cultivating equity in STEM education research. In 2022, the National Science Foundation invested $10 million over five years for TERC to lead equity efforts in the informal STEM learning field through the creation of the pioneering Reimagining Equity and Values in Informal STEM Education (REVISE) Center. 

TERC is governed by a 10-member board of trustees, and its FY2023 revenue totaled $15.7 million, the majority of which was derived from competitive government grants. Much of TERC’s financial, communications, technology, human resources, and equity infrastructure is centralized. Three primary work units, the Center for STEM Teaching and Learning (CSTL), the Education Research Collaborative (ERC), and the STEM Education Evaluation Center (SEEC), house the organization’s researchers and evaluators and retain some of their own distinct community practices and governance structures. 

Reporting to the board of trustees, TERC’s next President will be deeply committed to and passionate about advancing STEM education for educators, adults, children, and youth, particularly those in traditionally underserved communities. They will be a systems thinker, an inclusive and trusted leader, an exceptional collaborator and facilitator, and will demonstrate the ability to inspire a multifaceted and highly productive research engine. As TERC experiences a generational transition among its senior researchers, the President must be a skilled navigator of change and culture who will promote cohesion and efficiency, align decentralized staff around shared values, structures, and processes, and invest in the next generation of researchers and their success in competing and securing grant funding. The President will be an eager spokesperson for TERC, increasing its visibility with various STEM education stakeholders, federal and state governments, corporations, and foundations. As the national education landscape evolves and junior principal investigators step into senior roles, the President will ensure fiscal stability within TERC’s soft money model, working internally and externally to nurture success in securing funding from a broad range of funding sources, including federal and state agencies, private foundations, and others. Existing diversity, equity, accessibility, inclusion, and belonging (DEAIB) commitments will be deepened, and DEAIB values will continue to be woven through every facet of TERC. The President will mentor direct reports, provide professional development opportunities for all staff across the organization, and drive a highly productive, positive, and results-oriented culture.

All inquiries, nominations, and applications (including resumes/CVs and two- to three-page letters of interest describing relevant experience relating to the opportunities, challenges, and qualifications outlined in the full position profile) should be directed below. Applications will be reviewed as they are submitted. To be assured full consideration, please submit materials by Friday, November 8, 2024.

Pam Pezzoli is leading this search with Tatiana Oberkoetter and Alexis Ditaway.

It is the policy of TERC to recruit, hire, train, and promote, in all job titles, and ensure that all other personnel actions are administered without regard to sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, handicap, disability, protected veteran status, or age. All Personnel Actions: compensation, transfers, layoffs, termination; and all TERC benefits are administered without consideration of sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, handicap, disability, protected veteran’s status, or age.

In addition, employees and applicants shall not be subjected to harassment, intimidation, threats, coercion, or discrimination because they may have filed a complaint, assisted in an investigation or compliance review; opposing any act or practice that is unlawful under any Federal, State, or local law requiring equal opportunity and nondiscrimination; or exercising any other right protected by Federal, State, or local equal employment/non-discrimination law.

This policy is a covenant and a legal obligation of TERC in conducting all of its business. Every employee of TERC has a personal responsibility to support and promote this policy. If at any time you have questions or concerns in this area, please contact the Human Resources Department.