NCCC professor among STEM award recipients

HARTFORD — At its annual award breakfast on April 24, the Connecticut Science Center will celebrate individuals and organizations in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) who share in the mission of lifelong learning through interactive and innovative experiences that explore our changing world through science. Along with the Science Center’s STEM Achievement Awards, the Petit Family Foundation Women in Science Leadership Award is presented to a female leader who makes a significant effort to support other women and encourage girls' interests in STEM.

This year’s honorees include Michele Dischino, professor at Central Connecticut State University; Sharon Gusky, professor at Northwestern Connecticut Community College; and the Girl Scouts of Connecticut.

“Through public nominations, the STEM Achievement Awards allows not only us, but the community as a whole, to acknowledge fantastic individuals and organizations in STEM,” said Matt Fleury, president and CEO of the Connecticut Science Center. “Our honorees, Michele, Sharon, and the Girl Scouts of Connecticut, along with our finalists, represent a group of truly remarkable individuals who are shaping our community as well as our future workforce.”

Gusky, the 2018 STEM Achievement Award Individual Honoree, is a biology professor at Northwestern Connecticut Community College in Winsted. She is a founding member and current president of the Connecticut Association of Biology Teachers, a founding member and chairwoman of the Connecticut Community College Biology Faculty Association, and a founding fellow of the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education. Gusky is the statewide chairwoman for the Community Colleges’ Center for Teaching.

Dischino is the 2018 Petit Family Foundation Women in Science Leadership Award honoree. Dischino is a professor of technology and engineering education at Central Connecticut State University, where she teaches courses in a variety of science, technology, engineering and math subjects. She served as co-principal investigator on two NSF-funded grants through which she developed problem-based learning curricula used by educators throughout the U.S. and internationally.

The Girl Scouts of Connecticut is this year’s STEM Achievement Award Organization Honoree. Currently the largest youth organization in the state, the Girl Scouts of Connecticut provides programs focused on leadership development for girls age 5 through 17.

Tickets are $40 for the general public and $35 for Connecticut Science Center members and corporate member employees. For more information about the 2018 STEM Achievement Awards, visit CTScienceCenter.org/awards.