SciMathMN is honored to announce Jim Davnie as the new Executive Director of SciMathMN.

Jim Davnie comes to SciMathMN with over two decades of experience in education practice and policy. Mr. Davnie has a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and social work. He has a Master of Education degree from the University of Minnesota as well as a Master of Public Affairs degree from the Humphrey School at the University of Minnesota. He taught middle and high school in the Buffalo district for seventeen years and for the past fifteen years has represented his Minneapolis district in the Minnesota House of Representatives; he serves on both the K-12 Education Finance and Education Policy committees and will continue his service on the Minnesota House of Representatives while working as Executive Director of SciMathMN.

Active in his community for many years, Jim Davnie’s experience ranges from serving on a variety of nonprofits boards for organizations involved in environmentally sustainable economic development, to providing education and health care services on HIV/AIDS and hepatitis to the African born community in Minnesota. Mr. Davnie currently serves on the community board for YMCA Camp du Nord in Ely, Minnesota, and has five years of experience teaching adults personal finance topics for Lutheran Social Services.

Jim Davnie is married to Cara Letofsky and has two children. He enjoys reading, skiing, biking, camping, cooking, spending time with his family, and is an amateur bee keeper in his spare time.

Please help us congratulate and welcome Mr. Jim Davnie to his new position as Executive Director of SciMathMN.

Steven Walvig
SciMathMN Board Chair

Click here for a printable version of this announcement

The fourth annual conference of the Minnesota STEM Network took place on Wednesday, May 15th at St. Catherine University in St. Paul. Our keynote speaker was Dr. Linda Rosen, Chief Executive Officer of Change the Equation in Washington DC. Change the Equation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, CEO-led initiative that is mobilizing the business community to improve the quality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning in the United States. Dr. Rosen also presented a breakout session on STEMWorks, an initiative within Change the Equation to review programs against criteria for effectiveness. This breakout session was one of more than 30 breakout sessions. The McGlynn Technology Center presented a live webcast of Dr. Rosen’s keynote and 20 of the breakout sessions. See the Network page for more information on the conference.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (September 20, 2012) – The Board of Directors of SciMathMN, the statewide coalition that advocates for quality K-12 STEM education, announced today the hiring of Peter Lindstrom as the organization’s next executive director.

Lindstrom will continue to serve at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs where he is the assistant director of the Center for Science, Technology & Public Policy and fulfill his new duties with SciMathMN on a contract basis. He brings more than 15 years of experience in public policy advocacy, communication, marketing and event management. He previously served as vice president of public affairs at the Minnesota High Tech Association.

“Peter joins us at a pivotal moment in the history of SciMathMN.” said Richard Hudson, Chair of the SciMathMN Board of Directors and Director of Science Production at tpt, Twin Cities Public Television, “Peter will help accelerate the growth of our important new initiative, the Minnesota STEM Network, while sustaining the service SciMathMN has always provided to advancing STEM education in Minnesota.”

“We’re thrilled with this unique partnership,” said Eric Schwartz, dean of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. “Collaborating with SciMathMN integrates scholarship, service and outreach which are key elements to our mission.”

Two key initiatives of SciMathMN include the Minnesota STEM Network and the award-winning STEM Teacher Center website that houses the Minnesota Mathematics and Science Frameworks.

SciMathMN has partnered with Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) to capture the story about the need for and development of math and science Frameworks for MN. The 30 minute program, which first aired January 8th on public television, includes rationale regarding the need for a STEM resource such as the Frameworks (captured t the June SciMathMN Policymaker Briefing and STEM Best of the Best display), as well as information about the final website tool used to distribute the Frameworks (captured through a number of interviews).

This program should have appeal to a broad audience, including potential use as a staff development tool. Please pass this information along to any that you think would be interested or would benefit from it.

For information on upcoming broadcasts and quick access to online viewing, visit the program’s unique program page. This is an excellent link to share!