Stephanie Couch, an alumna from UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School, has recently won two San Francisco area awards. Couch was inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Oakland on March 19. Alameda County praised her, saying, “Stephanie is Executive Director of the groundbreaking Institute for STEM Education at Cal State East Bay and is a driving force in efforts to raise the level of education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math provided to youth across the region.”
Couch was also selected as one of San Francisco Business Times’ Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business for 2016. She will be featured in the April 29, 2016 special issue of the San Francisco Business Times as part of the honor.
Couch received a Ph.D. from the Gevirtz School’s Department of Education in 2011. She is currently serving as both the Director of the Gateways East Bay STEM Network and the Director of CSU East Bay’s Institute for STEM Education. The separate yet complimentary roles enable Couch to connect the innovations developed at East Bay and by others in the region to Gateways partners so that all students and educators in the region can benefit from the Institute’s work.
Prior to her appointment with the Gateways East Bay STEM Network and the Institute, Couch helped to conceptualize, design, and launch the statewide California STEM Learning Network (CSLNet). CSLNet is a non-profit working to build a network of educators, business leaders, and other stakeholders committed to establishing the world’s best STEM education system so that all California students will graduate from high school with the STEM knowledge and skills required for success in postsecondary education, work and their daily lives, and that more students pursue STEM careers and degrees.