CEE President and Co-Founder Joann DiGennaro Receives Honor

MCLEAN, Va. - Dec. 4, 2024 - PRLog -- The Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) congratulates CEE President and Co-Founder Joann DiGennaro, who has been recognized by Virginia Business in its December issue as one of the 100 People to Meet in 2025 in the Impact Makers category.

"It is an honor to be recognized in this way," she said.

Ms. DiGennaro has dedicated her career to merit-based STEM education excellence. She has served as president of CEE for 41 years, expanding the organization to multiple countries around the globe. She received her Bachelor of Science at Purdue University and her Master of Science at the University of Maryland. She read the law at Oxford University and received her Juris Doctor at George Mason University. She also served as a Research Affiliate at Harvard University's Program for Information Resources Policy, where she authored Science Literacy: Essentials for Decision Making. She also co-authored Scholarships and Fellowships for Math and Science Students.

DiGennaro has served on several university boards, including as chair of the U.S. Army War College Board of Visitors, to which she was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005. Ms. DiGennaro was appointed to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia where she served a five-year term, and the Commission on Higher Education Reform, Innovation, and Investment. Under the leadership of Ms. DiGennaro, the Saudi Research Science Initiative (S-RSI) was inaugurated in 2011 at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia—the first program for male and female students to study science together. In 2012, she was named as one of 100 U.S. Women Leaders in STEM by U.S. News and STEMconnector for having made significant contributions to science and technology.

She co-founded CEE, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, in 1983 with the late Admiral H. G. Rickover, father of the nuclear Navy and of civilian uses of nuclear power. They recognized that nurturing careers of excellence and leadership in science and technology in young scholars was an essential investment in the United States national and global future.

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About the Center for Excellence in Education

CEE, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was founded in 1983 by the late Admiral H.G. Rickover and Joann P. DiGennaro, President of the Center. The Center's mission is to nurture high school and university scholars to careers of excellence and leadership in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and to encourage collaboration between and among scientific and technological leaders in the global community. CEE sponsors the Research Science Institute (RSI), USA Biolympiad (USABO), Teacher Enrichment Program (TEP), and STEM Lyceums. For more information, visit https://www.cee.org.