Vice President, Undergraduate STEM Education, Association of American Colleges and Universities, and Executive Director, Project Kaleidoscope
Email: mack@aacu.org
Dr. Kelly Mack is the Vice President for Undergraduate STEM Education and Executive Director of Project Kaleidoscope, a non-profit organization focusing on undergraduate STEM education reform, at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Prior to joining AAC&U, Dr. Mack was the Senior Program Director for the National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE Program while on loan from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) where, as a Professor of Biology, she taught courses in Physiology and Endocrinology for 17 years.
During her tenure at NSF, Dr. Mack managed an annual budget of approximately $17 million, facilitated the inclusion of issues targeting women of color into the national discourse on gender equity in the STEM disciplines and significantly increased the participation of predominantly undergraduate institutions, community colleges and minority serving institutions in the ADVANCE portfolio.
At UMES, Dr. Mack served in many capacities including Biology Program Director where she was responsible for providing leadership and strategic vision for the intellectual, educational, and professional development of biology majors and for the coordination of faculty in providing quality instruction, research, and development activities. She also served as Principal Investigator, Director or Co-Director for externally funded projects that totaled over $12 million dollars, including the UMES ADVANCE Program, which focused on issues related to African American women faculty in the STEM disciplines and led to the initiation of several institution-wide practices to promote the professional development of all faculty.
Dr. Mack earned the BS degree in Biology from UMES and, later, the PhD degree from Howard University in Physiology. She has had extensive training and experience in the area of cancer research with her research efforts focusing primarily on the use of novel antitumor agents in breast tumor cells. Most recently, her research focus has involved the use of bioflavonoids in the regulation of estrogen receptor positive (ER+) and estrogen receptor negative (ER-) breast tumor cell proliferation.
Dr. Mack has served as a member of the Board of Governors for the National Council on Undergraduate Research and is a current member of the National Institutes of Health Review Subcommittee for Training, Workforce Development and Diversity. She also recently completed a brief stint as Executive Secretary for the NSF Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering, which is the Congressionally mandated advisory body that focuses on efforts to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in the STEM disciplines.
Areas of Expertise:
Broadening Participation in Higher Education, STEM Undergraduate Education, Faculty Development, STEM Gender Equity, Intersectionality, Institutional Transformation.