Gerry Meisels
Professor of Chemistry and Director, USF
Founding Director, Coalition for Science Literacy
Dr. Gerry G. Meisels is the founding director of the Coalition for Science Literacy at the University of South Florida. The Coalition for Science Literacy (CSL) a leads a collaborative effort of K-12 schools, community colleges, four-year colleges, universities, public agencies, and private businesses and industry in the Tampa Bay region. CSL focuses its efforts on this region of 3,000,000 people, 300,000 school children, and 100,000 college students.
Dr. Meisels has led projects to improve science and mathematics education, and advocated for systemic, large-scale change. He has secured $13,500,000 in grants from NSF, US DOE, and the Florida DOE. He co-led a statewide professional development program for elementary school teachers. Projects also include marketing science and mathematics teaching to professionals, induction, and research on teacher resignations that revealed that personal factors such as family concerns were more important in teachers’ decisions to leave the profession than previously believed. He led the formation of the statewide Coalition for Improving Mathematics and Science Education and has served as its chair since its inception in 1999. He organized two statewide Summits on Mathematics and Science Education in 2005; these led to 2006 legislation that establishes and funds a Florida Center for Mathematics and Science Education Research.
Dr. Meisels served as USF’s Provost and Chief Operating Officer. From 1982 to 1988 he was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and chair of the Department of Chemistry from 1975 to 1982. He was on the faculty of the University of Houston from 1965 to 1975, the last three years as department chair. Meisels began his professional career as a chemist and group leader in industry, working for Gulf Oil Corporation and Union Carbide Corporation.