The USEA Executive Board is the governing body of USEA and is responsible for establishing policy and setting direction for the association. It meets three times per year (face-to-face and via web conference). The board consists of the president, vice president, past president, secretary-treasurer, and three members-at-large. At least one member of the board should be a UTeach Master Teacher, and at least one member should be an alumnus of a UTeach program.
USEA Executive Board, 2022–2023
Mary Enderson, President
MonarchTeach Co-Director, Old Dominion University
Dr. Mary C. Enderson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teaching & Learning in the College of Education & Professional Studies at Old Dominion University (ODU). She led efforts in obtaining state funding to replicate the UTeach model for ODU — the first university in the Commonwealth of Virginia to join the UTeach network. She has been co-director since the program began in 2012 and is active in teaching, researching, and supporting the program at various levels.
Dr. Enderson received her Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from the University of Georgia, Athens, GA. She began her mathematics career teaching at the high school level and from there moved into the higher education arena. She has held positions at two other universities prior to arriving at ODU in 2012. Dr. Enderson’s research interests focus on STEM teacher preparation, mathematics and STEM literacy, mathematics coaching, and Modeling & Simulation in STEM teacher preparation. She has strong interdisciplinary research connections that have resulted in research endeavors in areas that have connections with mathematics. Dr. Enderson is committed to the UTeach philosophy and believes that recruitment of diverse students into UTeach programs is critical to the success of middle and high school students selecting future careers in STEM fields.
Mariam Manuel, Vice President / President Elect
Instructional Assistant Professor/Master Teacher, University of Houston
Dr. Mariam Manuel is an Instructional Assistant Professor/Master Teacher for teachHOUSTON, a secondary STEM teacher preparation program in the Department of Mathematics at University of Houston. She is a proud graduate of the University of Houston and was part of the inaugural cohort of the teachHOUSTON program during its inception in 2007.
Prior to joining teachHOUSTON as a faculty member, Dr. Manuel taught high school physics and served as a science instructional coach for a high-need school district in the Greater Houston Area. In addition to preservice STEM teacher education courses, Dr. Manuel teaches Physics for Middle School Teachers and has authored/taught graduate-level coursework in Engineering Design Education for the UH STEM Master’s program. Dr. Manuel serves on multiple grants and actively publishes and presents at national research conferences. Her research interests include STEM teacher preparation, engineering design education, and culturally responsive pedagogy. She is the director of STEM Rise student success. STEM Rise (STEM Research Inquiry Summer Enrichment) is designed to better prepare future STEM teachers and medical professionals, and support high school students from Houston’s historic Third Ward Community in empirical STEM research and laboratory experiences.
Dr. Manuel was presented with 2018 Million Women Mentors Stand Up for STEM Award, which recognizes efforts in mentoring young girls and women to pursue STEM-related career pathways. She is also the recipient of the 2019 Association of Women in Mathematics Certificate of Service to the Field for Mentorship of Girls and Young Women in STEM. In 2020, she was honored with the UTeach STEM Educators Association Award for Outstanding Contributions to STEM Education. She is the 2022 recipient of University of Houston College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Butler Excellence in Teaching Award. Dr. Manuel was recently selected as the 2022 Vice President/President Elect for the UTeach STEM Educators Association.
Mary Urquhart, Immediate Past President
UTeach Dallas Director, University of Texas at Dallas
Dr. Mary Urquhart is Director of UTeach Dallas and has led the program since she was a founding Co-Director in 2007. She is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Science/Mathematics Education in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Texas of Dallas (UT Dallas) as well as an Affiliate Associate Professor of Physics. Dr. Urquhart has been the physics and Earth/space science content specialist for the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program in Science Education at UT Dallas in Science Education since she came to the university in 2002, and in her role as Department Head now leads both that program and the MAT in Mathematics Education.
In addition to her teaching, administrative roles, and work with USEA, Dr. Urquhart is a Co-PI and Curriculum Team Lead with the NSF-funded STEPP project, and has served as Pi/ Project Director for NSF Noyce grants and several programs for in-service teachers through the Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching, WeTeach_CS, the Texas Education Agency, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Her current scholarly and creative work continues in instructional design, professional development, and assessment. She serves on multidisciplinary research teams involving educators, physicists, computer scientists, animation experts, and geoscientists. Since 2003 she has served as the founding faculty advisor for the student-run Women in Physics camps targeting middle school girls. She continues to be passionate about, and active in, science communication with students, teachers, and the public.
Christina Steel, Secretary/Treasurer
Senior Lecturer and Co-Director, College of Sciences, Old Dominion University
Dr. Christina Steel is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Sciences at Old Dominion University. She joined the MonarchTeach program in Spring 2016, developing and teaching Research Methods with the first cohort of students, and continues to teach this course. She has served as the College of Sciences Co-Director since 2019.
Dr. Steel received her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Eastern Virginia Medical School and Old Dominion University (joint program) in Norfolk, VA. She began teaching as an adjunct at Tidewater Community College in 2008 and at Old Dominion University in 2010 before moving to a full-time lecturer position in 2013.
Dr. Steel’s research interests focus on models of viral encephalitis in mouse models and molecular characterization of skin responses in human in-vitro models. She strongly believes that the UTeach model will help create strong, diverse future teachers who use inquiry- and project-based learning that models authentic scientific practices, and will create a more welcoming, enabling classroom that shows diverse students that they can and do belong in STEM. that knowledge and learning are for all.
Alexandra Eusebi, Member-at-Large
Assistant Professor of Practice and Academic Director, UTeach Access,
The University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Alexandra Eusebi joined the faculty of the UTeach program at the University of Texas at Austin as an assistant professor of practice in January of 2019. She instructs and supports multiple courses in the College of Natural Sciences and College of Education, including Introduction to Inquiry-Based Learning (Step 1), Introduction to Inquiry-Based Lesson Design (Step 2), and Project-Based Instruction (PBI). Besides working with university students, Dr. Eusebi facilitates and writes curriculum for UTeach Austin’s Professional Development group. She has recently developed a new workshop on Designing PBI for the Blended Classroom. Additionally, Dr. Eusebi works with Texas State’s Mathworks program as a Master Teacher and curriculum writer/editor.
Dr. Eusebi is the Academic Director for UTeach Access — a new co-enrollment program between the University of Texas and Austin Community College. The program’s goal is to increase the number of highly qualified STEM educators in Texas classrooms. UTeach Access provides additional pathways toward secondary STEM certification for underrepresented students. The first cohort for the UTeach Access program will begin classes fall of 2022.
Dr. Eusebi earned her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has been working in education and teaching for over 20 years and has 14 years of experience teaching and writing curriculum for secondary mathematics.
Sumudu Lewis, Member-at-Large
UTeach UMass Lowell Director, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Dr. Sumudu Lewis went into teaching after completing her doctoral degree (D.Phil) in the field of organic chemistry at the University of Sussex, United Kingdom. She worked as science teacher in the south of England and then moved to London to work as science department chair, and then later as Assistant Principal and STEM coordinator for West London. Dr. Lewis joined the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) in 2009 when she moved to the United States. She began working as a Teaching Assistant in the Math and Science Doctoral Program at the College of Education. While completing her Ed.D, she was hired as the first and only Master Teacher/Program Director of the UTeach program on its inception at UMass Lowell in 2012.
Currently, Dr. Lewis works as a Clinical Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator of UTeach UML. Dr. Lewis has taught STEP 1 and STEP 2, and now teaches Introduction to STEM Teaching, Perspectives on Mathematics and Science, Interactions and Equity, and Project-Based Instruction. She also coordinates and arranges the UTeach Practicum and runs the Practicum seminars.
In addition to her teaching role, Dr. Lewis manages and directs the running of the UTeach Program at UMass Lowell, which includes the recruitment and retention of students, student advising, working with partner school districts to recruit and train mentor teachers, and meeting the state-mandated requirements for teacher preparation. Outside teaching UTeach courses and her service to managing and maintaining the UTeach program, Dr. Lewis teaches graduate-level courses for the College of Education and Chemistry courses for the Chemistry Department at UML. She is also an active member of the college’s initiative to diversify the teaching profession in Massachusetts.
In 2018, Dr. Lewis was accepted into Global Teacher Fellows Program sponsored by the Longview Foundation. During her fellowship, she successfully introduced Global Learning into the classroom-based UTeach courses to prepare Globally Competent STEM Educators with the skills to address Global issues through math and science content.
Michael Ralph, Member-at-Large, Alumni Representative
Senior Associate, Senior Associate and Researcher at Multistudio, UKanTeach alumnus
Michael Ralph is a Senior Associate, Lead Researcher at Multistudio. He was an award-winning biology educator in the Kansas City area, where he was the recipient of the Outstanding Biology Teacher Award in 2014 and the NABT Genetics Education Award in 2016. He also worked as a Master Teacher at the Center for STEM Learning at the University of Kansas, where he was the recipient of the USEA Outstanding Master Teacher Award in 2020 for his work teaching Research Methods and advancing Maker education in STEM. He now leads the Research Center at Multistudio, where he supports community engagement, study design, and project integration that connects education research, environmental evaluation, and learning space design.
Mr. Ralph’s work emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary connections in both educational scholarship and instructional practice. He holds a BS in Biology, an MS in Chemical and Life Sciences, and is a PhD candidate in Educational Psychology. He combines his experience in classroom praxis with his expertise in research methodology. He has published in biology teaching (Biology Rocks!) and in scholarly journals related to education policy, measurement, and curriculum. In his research he strives to elevate the voices of those living and working in each research context. He works as the principal investigator of the Gender Inclusive Design Study at Multistudio and as a collaborating researcher in the application of Universal Design for Learning principles in school spaces.