Dr. Dennis M. Bartels
Executive Director, Exploratorium

Dennis M. Bartels, PhD, a nationally known science education and policy expert, became Executive Director of the Exploratorium in May 2006. He leads the Exploratorium at a time when concerns about the country’s competitive edge in the fields of science and math are at the forefront of the national agenda. The Exploratorium’s charter is as an institution that exists at the intersection of the fields of formal and informal science education.

Bartels holds a PhD in Education Administration and Policy Analysis from Stanford University. His work has received over $28 million in grants from the National Science Foundation and other sources. Dr. Bartels’s recent high-profile activities in the field of science education and policy include leadership of an external panel of experts on the National Science Foundation’s long-range planning for its pre-college science education programs, and for its institutional material and technology-related education programs.

In March 2006, Bartels was invited by the Director of the National Science Foundation to serve on the NSF Education and Human Resources Directorate Advisory Committee, and later on the Environmental Research and Education Advisory Committee, which produced the agency’s Green Book. He has testified before committees of both the United States Senate and House of Representatives, most recently before the full House Science Committee on the role of the National Science Foundation in K–12 science and math education. He has also been an invited guest and speaker on science and mathematics education in England, France, the Netherlands, Japan, Malaysia, Brazil, and China. Dr. Bartels serves on the Boards of the Cisco Learning Institute and the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), and is Chair of the Steering Committee of the Coalition for Science After School.

From 2001–2006, Bartels was president of TERC, a research and development center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, known for its innovative curricula, products, and tools for teachers and students in K–12 classrooms. While there, Bartels led the organization’s efforts to expand its endeavors in online learning, informal science education, and after-school programming.

Prior to his time at TERC, Dr. Bartels directed a statewide education reform initiative at the South Carolina Department of Education, funded by the National Science Foundation; worked with the University of California on school improvement efforts; was involved in collaborative programs with the California State University and California Department of Education; and, from 1996 to 2001, directed the Exploratorium’s own Center for Teaching and Learning, where he was responsible for establishing the Exhibit-Based Teaching Partnerships program in science centers around the world, including Beijing, China.

Dr. Bartels has been awarded the distinction of being an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow. He was elected an AAAS Fellow (on Education) for his energetic leadership in systemic science education reform, informal science education, and research and development of innovative mathematics, science, and technology curricula. In 2008 he was named a Fellow of the International Society for Design and Development in Education, and in 2009 he was made a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA).