Meet the NSTA Leadership
P. John Whitsett
President, 2007–2008
P. John Whitsett, coordinator of curriculum, instruction and assessment at Fond du Lac School District, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, is president of NSTA. He began his one-year term on June 1, 2007.
For more than three decades Whitsett has been a leader in the science education community in Wisconsin. He began his career in 1970 at LaCrosse Central High School, where he taught chemistry for 23 years. He also served as supervisor of science and math for the LaCrosse School District. Additionally, Whitsett taught physics at Fond du Lac High School from 1993 to June 2007. Currently, Whitsett works for the Fond du Lac School District, serving as the coordinator of curriculum, instruction and assessment and supervises both the curriculum and instruction and technology and media departments.
A dedicated and passionate member of the science education community, Whitsett has spent much of his career helping to improve the quality of science education for educators and students. He has served as the co-principal investigator for four National Science Foundation (NSF) training and teacher enhancement projects and has taught several graduate courses at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse campus in laboratory methods, lab safety, and curriculum design. He has also served as a laboratory safety consultant for many school districts and has presented lab safety training sessions for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
A member of NSTA since 1977, Whitsett has contributed extensively to the association. He has worked on several NSTA committees, served as a district director, was the local arrangements chair for the NSTA regional conference in Milwaukee in 2000, and participated in the Blue Ribbon Panel for National State Collaborations.
Throughout his career, Whitsett has been honored for his contributions to science education. He received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (1986), the Ron Gibbs Award for Lifetime Achievement in Science Education (2000), the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers (WSST) Regional Award (1995), an Outstanding Chemistry Teacher Award from the American Chemical Society (1991), among others. He is a long-time member of WSST and served as its president in 1991 and also as president of the WSST Foundation. Whitsett’s involvement in these activities reflects his personal goal to be an active participant in the science education community and to work with fellow teachers to help them become better trained, more informed, and engaged in their profession.
Whitsett earned both a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and math and a master’s of education degree in professional development from the University of Wisconsin–LaCrosse. Whitsett also received a certification in school administration from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1994.
Page D. Keeley
President-Elect, 2007–2008
Page D. Keeley, a senior science program director at the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA), is president-elect of NSTA. She began her one-year term on June 1, 2007, and will assume the office of president on June 1, 2008.
Throughout her accomplished career, Keeley has served the science education profession in many different capacities. In addition to having taught science for 15 years at the middle and high school levels, Keeley has worked as a research assistant in immunogenetics at the Jackson Laboratory, served as a science literacy leader in the Project 2061 Professional Development Program, and worked as an adjunct instructor at the University of Maine. Since 1996, Keeley has been employed at MMSA, focusing on program design, professional development, and publications in the areas of teacher leadership, science instruction, standards, mentoring and new teacher support, and formative assessment. Additionally, Keeley is currently a principal investigator on three National Science Foundation (NSF) grants.
An active and highly committed member of the science education community, Keeley’s past leadership activities include serving as the president of the Maine Science Teachers Association (MSTA), an NSTA district director, and serving two elected terms on her local school board. Keeley has also worked on several science education-related committees, including the Maine Educational Assessment Advisory Committee, Boston University’s Microcosmos Advisory Committee, the TERC Eisenhower Regional Alliance Advisory Board, and NSTA’s Professional Development Standing Committee, among others. Keeley has also authored several books and published material in NSTA journals.
In 1999, Keeley became a National Academy for Science and Mathematics Education Leadership Fellow. Her other awards and accomplishments include receiving the Phil Marcoux Memorial Award for outstanding service to science education in Maine in 1997, AT&T Maine Governor’s Fellow for Technology in 1994, the Milken Foundation National Distinguished Educator Award in 1993, and a Presidential Award for Excellence in Secondary Science Teaching in 1992.
Keeley earned a bachelor’s degree in life science, with a pre-veterinary concentration, from the University of New Hampshire and a master’s degree in science education from the University of Maine.
Linda K. Froschauer
Retiring President, 2007–2008
Linda K. Froschauer, a middle school teacher and K–8 Science Department Chair at the Weston Public Schools, in Weston Connecticut, was the 2006–2007 President of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). She began her one-year term on June 1, 2006.
Froschauer has been a devoted teacher and dedicated leader in science education. She began her teaching career as an elementary school teacher in Matteson, Illinois; moved on to middle level teaching at the Greenwich Public Schools, in Greenwich, Connecticut; and has been with the Weston Public Schools since 1985. She combines her work in the classroom with a leadership role in her school, serving as grades K–8 science department chair/mentor teacher. Outside the classroom she has worked as an instructor for Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry; as a writer/consultant for many publications; and as a field editor, reviewer, and consultant for numerous organizations.
For more than 30 years, Froschauer has been a leader and active member of NSTA. In 1976, she was named the first Preschool/Elementary Division Director to serve on the NSTA Board of Directors. She later worked on many NSTA committees, including the International Convention Planning Committee, the Preschool/Elementary Committee, and the Informal Education Committee, and she has chaired both the Awards and Recognition Committee and the Committee on Nominations. She also has served as Middle Level Division Director, worked on the Committee and Board Operations Task Force, and led the development of NSTA’s first Family Science Day, which was held in conjunction with the NSTA National Convention in Boston.
Froschauer’s devotion to science education is evidenced by her involvement in numerous other professional organizations. She has served as president of the Connecticut Science Supervisors Association (CSSA), the National Middle Level Science Teachers Association (NMLSTA), and the Council for Elementary Science International (CESI). She is also a member of the Connecticut Academy for Education in Mathematics, Science, and Technology; the Association of Presidential Awardees in Science Teaching; and the Society of Elementary Presidential Awardees. She has been actively involved in Project 2061, a national effort to improve science education sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Froschauer was chosen as a Connecticut Science Educators Fellow and named Weston Teacher of the Year in 1999. Her other awards and accomplishments include receiving the NSTA Distinguished Teaching Award, Middle Level, in 2001; National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification, also in 2001; the CSSA Charles Simone Award for Outstanding Leadership in Science Education in 1998; a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 1993; and the Educational Press Association of America’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 1991.
Froschauer earned a BS degree in education from Northern Illinois University, an MA in science teaching from Governors State University, and a sixth-year degree in curriculum and supervision from Southern Connecticut State University.
Dr. Gerald Wheeler
Executive Director
Dr. Wheeler is the executive director of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the world’s largest professional organization representing science educators of all grade levels.
Since joining the Association in 1995, Dr. Wheeler has overseen the creation of several science education initiatives and resources aimed at strengthening the quality of science teaching and learning. Dr. Wheeler was the driving force behind SciLinks®, a collaborative project with major publishers that links science textbooks to teacher-approved websites, and Building a Presence for Science, a program that works to identify then connect science education contacts in each school building nationwide and provide them with teaching resources and professional development opportunities. Most recently, Dr. Wheeler was instrumental in the formation of the NSTA Learning Center, the national “home base” for science educators in search of quality professional development and specific science content tied to their individual needs and what they are teaching in the classroom, and the NSTA New Science Teachers Academy, a professional development program, co-founded by the Amgen Foundation, designed to encourage and support new middle and high school science educators in their first few years of teaching.
For much of his career Dr. Wheeler has played a key role in the development of mass media projects that showcase science for students. He was involved in the creation of 3-2-1 Contact for the Children’s Television Workshop, served on advisory boards for the Voyage of the Mimi and the PBS children’s series CRO, and created and hosted Sidewalk Science, a television show for young people on CBS-affiliate WCAU-TV in Philadelphia. Dr. Wheeler has co-directed the National Teachers Enhancement Network, an NSF-funded distance learning project offering science and math courses nationwide.
Prior to joining NSTA, Dr. Wheeler was Director of the Science/Math Resource Center and Professor of Physics at Montana State University. He also headed the Public Understanding of Science and Technology Division at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and has served as President of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).
Dr. Wheeler is the recipient of numerous awards for his teaching and mass media work, including outstanding teaching awards from Temple University, the University of Hartford, and Montana State University, as well as the AAPT Milliken Award. He is a fellow of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and AAAS and has served on advisory boards and committees for the American Institute of Physics and the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Dr. Wheeler’s publications include numerous books, research and education articles, and reviews.
Dr. Wheeler received an undergraduate degree in science education from Boston University and a Master’s degree in physics and a Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics, both from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Between undergraduate and graduate school, he taught high school physics, chemistry, and physical science.