Gevirtz School alumna Dr. Stephanie Couch will take the stage as the 2018 UC Santa Barbara Graduate Division Commencement Keynote speaker on Sunday, June 17 at 4 pm on the Commencement Green. “I value my time at UC Santa Barbara,” she said, “and I also value the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education and everything it has offered me, and what it offers for every student who goes there, and those in community who come in contact with our graduates. UCSB is a phenomenal place.”
As an administrative leader and strong advocate for educational innovation, Couch has spent nearly two decades of her career working to build better education access through technological opportunities for students from underrepresented communities throughout California. She chose UCSB's Department of Education for her doctoral studies because of the education program’s approach to interactional ethnography – an emphasis Couch felt would help her work as a Director of Statewide Initiatives at the School of Education at UC Davis in documenting the incredible gains made in educational access through technology.
Before accepting her current position as the Executive Director of the Lemelson-MIT Program, Couch served as Director of the Gateways East Bay STEM Network and founding Executive Director of CSU East Bay’s Institute for STEM Education. Couch made her mark on California’s STEM education system as one of the visionary founders of the statewide California STEM Learning Network (CSLNet), a non-profit network of educators and other community leaders working together to ensure all students have the skills to succeed in STEM careers and degrees. In 2016, Couch was inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame, and was recognized by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business.
At her current role at MIT, Couch oversees the development, strategic partnerships, and growth of the Lemelson-MIT Program’s prestigious invention awards and grants programs designed to inspire young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention. Through her work to expand learning opportunities that teach high schoolers how to invent technological solutions to real world problems, like the InvenTeam grant initiative, she continues to work hard to move the dial forward on creating more access to STEM careers for underrepresented minorities. “I often tell young people that none of us get to where we are by ourselves -- other people help us get there,” she said. “They need to network and not be afraid to come forward with their hopes, their dreams, and their questions. They need speak to the people who can help them get to their goals. Networking and setting high goals for oneself are two key ingredients for accomplishing great things and being the best we can be in this world.”
Couch is the second consecutive Gevirtz School alumna to be the Graduate Division keynote speaker—in 2017 retired Congresswoman Lois Capps (Education, MA ’90) gave the invited talk.
For those who cannot attend, all commencement ceremonies will be available as a livestream on the UCSB website.