Dr. Iris R. Wagstaff
Founder and Executive Director

Iris R. Wagstaff, Ph.D. is a chemist, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) leader, science policy advisor, educator, and keynote speaker. She has over 20 years of experience developing, and leading initiatives focused on broadening participation in STEM education at the K-12 and higher and education levels, developing and leading DEI initiatives, and serving as a consultant and advisor in science policy. She has worked in all four employment sectors that include the chemical industry, academia, federal government, and the non-profit sector. She worked as a research chemist at the Dow Chemical Company for 15 years before transitioning to STEM education and science policy. She is also a social scientist whose research focuses on examining the factors that predict science self-efficacy, science identity, and STEM career intent – particularly for underrepresented minorities in STEM.

 

She is a native of Goldsboro, NC, and has a BS and MS in Chemistry, and a Ph.D. in Science Education Research and Policy. Additionally, Dr. Wagstaff is trained in project evaluation and has extensive experience in project management and organizational leadership. As a science policy advisor for the last eight years, she has advised federal agencies, industry, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations regarding broadening participation in STEM, preparing a diverse pool of STEM talent for a global workforce, and DEI strategic planning.

 

For the last 20 years, she has led efforts focused explicitly on historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs), as well as supported students and professionals in STEM with disabilities. She serves on several advisory boards that include the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE), the American Chemical Society Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Respect, the HBCU STEM Undergraduate Success Research Center, Department of Defense STEM Education Consortium, the NSF QEM S-STEM Hub, the NSF ECR Hub, and the NSF Mountains to Sea North Carolina Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Program.

 

She is the Founder and Executive Director of Wagstaff STEM Solutions, STEM education and DEI consulting firm. She has received several honors that include the NOBCChE Award for Mentoring, NOBCChE Henry McBay Education Award, the Women of Color in STEM Education Award and the Science Trailblazer Award.