Carlos Rodriguez Participates in Keynote Panel for the Global Diversity Leadership Conference at Harvard University

Washington, D.C. – Carlos Rodriguez, a principal research scientist at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and an expert on efforts to support diversity among college students seeking degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), will participate in the keynote panel discussion on Thursday, September 15, 2011 that begins the Global Diversity Leadership Conference at Harvard University.

In addition to Rodriguez, other participants in the panel “College Presidents and Top Leaders on Cutting Edge Solutions to Workforce Pipeline Issues and STEM,” include: Richard Fields, president emeritus Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology and administrator of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; David Hall, president of the University of the Virgin Islands; and Edie Fraser, philanthropist, author and senior consultant for Diversified Search.

The members of the panel will discuss how schools and employers can partner in efforts to increase the graduation rates of STEM students, especially minorities. Rodriguez serves as the principal investigator for the Broadening Participation in STEM project, an effort led by AIR, in partnership with the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), and on behalf of the National Science Foundation (NSF), to examine NSF’s investment in programs designed to stimulate STEM degree production, particularly among underrepresented minorities, women and persons with disabilities.

About AIR
Established in 1946, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education, and workforce productivity. For more information, visit www.air.org.

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