Athens, Ga. – University of Georgia mathematics education professor Patricia Wilson has been selected to serve as a program officer for the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C.
Wilson has been assigned to the Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings, where she will be responsible for long-range planning and budget development for the Resources, Models, and Tools Cluster and the Discovery Research K-12 programs. She also will manage the merit review process for proposals for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education funding and advise the community of current and future funding opportunities. Her two-year assignment began Feb. 8.
“Having a faculty member serve as a program officer at the National Science
Foundation will help our department and college gain insight into federal funding priorities as well as the elements of strong proposals,” said Denise Mewborn, head of the department of mathematics and science education. “When she returns to UGA, Dr. Wilson will be in an excellent position to continue the strong leadership she already has provided in securing external funding.”
Wilson was principal investigator ofa $10.3 million, five-year grant from the NSF to create the Center for Proficiency in Teaching Mathematicsto improve the mathematical proficiency of both new teachers and those already in the field. Regents Professor of Mathematics Education Jeremy Kilpatrick and James Wilson, professor of mathematics education, were co-principal investigators and the University of Michigan was a partner in the grant.
Patricia Wilson headed the department of mathematics education from 2000-05. She served on the advisory board of the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education from 2004-09, funded by NSF, and the InGEAR Project, from 1995-98, funded by the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is currently on the editorial board of the international book series, Mathematics Teacher Education, published by Springer.
In 1997, Wilson was a member of President Clinton’s Task Force for Voluntary National Tests in the Mathematics Advisory Committee, which investigated the assessment of mathematics learning through a Voluntary National Mathematics Test for Eighth Grade. She was also a member of the Joint Committee on Women in Mathematical Sciences from 1991-97.
Wilson joined the UGA faculty in 1986. She earned her Ph.D. in mathematics education from The Ohio State University.
