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About Karen Marrongelle

Dr. Karen Marrongelle  is the head of the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Education and Human Resources. Dr. Marrongelle's responsibilities include shaping strategy, policy and funding priorities related to the directorate's four divisions: Undergraduate Education, Graduate Education, Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings and Human Resource Development. 
Dr. Marrongelle was the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Portland State University, a position she held from 2014 - 2018. She oversaw 24 departments and programs and more than 2,000 employees across the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.  Dr. Marrongelle has led a collaborative, College-wide effort to imagine new pathways that will increase student and faculty success at PSU and strengthen the College’s position in the community and across the country. As a result, she moved forward the creation of an interdisciplinary School of Gender, Race and Nations to be a resource for the Portland community in the areas of race and social justice; and identified a goal for PSU and the College to become the premier institution in Oregon for students pursuing pre-health sciences.

Under Dr. Marrongelle’s leadership, the College connects student learning to the community and provides student access to high quality research opportunities. During her tenure, the College has increased its research funding, while helping raise the profile of student and faculty-led research and innovation at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Through key faculty hires, she has helped undergraduate science programs innovate their teaching methods and improve student success in STEM courses. Dr. Marrongelle also oversees many nationally ranked graduate programs, including speech-language pathology, industrial-organizational psychology, mathematics education, and applied linguistics.

Dr. Marrongelle is a professor of Mathematics and Statistics, holding an undergraduate in mathematics and philosophy from Albright College, a graduate degree in mathematics from Lehigh University, and a PhD in mathematics education from the University of New Hampshire. Her research examines how students learn college level mathematics and identifies ways to innovate teaching methodology and curriculum design to enhance student learning.  Her research has helped teachers, schools, and university systems design more engaging and meaningful courses that lead to greater student success.

Prior to serving as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dr. Marrongelle held positions as Vice Chancellor for Academic Strategies and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Standards and Collaboration with the Oregon University System, overseeing seven public universities in Oregon. In those positions, she helped transition academic and student programs from the Oregon University System to the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission; provided strategic planning leadership for student success initiatives; prepared academic policies to address critical program needs; and fostered public-private partnerships in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Dr. Marrongelle has also served as a program officer at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. and led numerous grants, collaborating with researchers nationally and internationally to improve undergraduate mathematics education and K-12 mathematics professional development.

Positions

October 2018 - Present Directorate for Education and Human Resources, National Science Foundation
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2014 - Present Professor, Portland State University Fariborz Maseeh Department of Mathematics and Statistics
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2014 - October 2018 Dean, Portland State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
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2013 - 2014 Vice Chancellor for Academic Strategies, Oregon University System
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2011 - 2013 Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Standards and Collaborations, Portland State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
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2007 - 2009 Program Director, National Science Foundation ‐ Education and Human Resources Directorate, Division of Research on Learning
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Honors and Awards

  • Columbia-Willamette Chapter of Sigma Xi Outstanding Researcher Award in Mathematical Sciences, 2006.
  • Portland State University College of Liberal Arts & Science John Eliot Outstanding Teaching Award, 2003-2004
  • Mathematical Association of America Leitzel Project NExT Fellow, 2002-2003
  • Center for Learning and Teaching in the West Faculty Fellow, 2001-2003
  • Oregon Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers Faculty Fellow, 2001-2002

Education

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2001 Ph. D., University of New Hampshire - Main Campus ‐ Mathematics Education
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1997 MS, Lehigh University
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1995 BS, Albright College ‐ Mathematics & Philosophy
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Articles (9)

Book Chapters (4)

Books (1)

Technical Report (1)