Biography
Dr. Stephanie Couch is the Executive Director of the Lemelson-MIT Program which is part of the School of Engineering within MIT. In this role, she oversees two national prize programs that make annual awards to mid-career inventors and college students, and she directs a number of national invention education initiatives aimed at helping young people develop as inventors. Her research during the past three years has focused on ways young people learn to think and work as inventors, and on the teachers and other adults who facilitate students’ development.
Prior to joining the Lemelson-MIT Program, Stephanie worked in California in numerous roles focused on K-12 and higher education policy issues in school finance and technology in teaching and learning. She is recognized for her strengths in developing multi-stakeholder partnerships and facilitating collaborative efforts that advance invention education and STEM learning opportunities for students, with an emphasis on students underrepresented in STEM college/career pathways.
Couch holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of California, Davis.