Thomas L. Windham, Ph.D. joined the National Science Foundation (NSF) in February 2004 as Senior Advisor for Science and Engineering Workforce and is the Foundation’s focal point in addressing issues, strategies, and programs centering on improving the participation of underrepresented groups in science and engineering. Windham serves as a member of the Director’s immediate staff and participates in policy development, strategic planning, and building broad organizational consensus. His responsibilities include overseeing NSF’s efforts to broaden the participation of persons from America’s underrepresented groups in science, engineering, mathematics and technology.

Before coming to NSF Windham served as director and principal investigator of the Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (SOARS') program www.ucar.edu/soars. SOARS is a multifaceted, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural science research and undergraduate and graduate student learning community at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO. In December 2001, Windham received The Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring in Washington, D.C. on behalf of the SOARS program.

Windham was born in Harlem and is a graduate of New York City’s High School of Music and Art. He received his Ph.D. in social-personality psychology at the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder, under Professors Stuart Cook and John Forward. Additional professional training includes postdoctoral study in Clinical and Descriptive Psychology at the Linguistic Research Institute, Boulder, under Professor Peter Ossorio. Windham earned the Specialist in Education graduate degree from CU Denver, and MS and BA degrees in psychology from New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas. Windham’s career track includes positions as a licensed clinical and organizational psychologist, mentor, educator, and CEO of a comprehensive community mental health center.

Windham’s community service includes Distinguished Visitor for the American Psychological Association, President of the Boulder Valley School District Board of Education, and invited Science Education Columnist for The Boulder Daily Camera. Windham also served as a member of the CU Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) Advisory Committee, the CU Graduate School Dean’s Advisory Committee, NSF’s Alan T. Waterman Award Committee, Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering, and Geosciences Directorate Advisory Committee, and the I Have a Dream Board of Directors, Boulder, CO.

Windham currently serves as a member of the American Meteorological Society Board on Women and Minorities.

In 1997 Windham was awarded Boulder County’s Ninth Annual Multicultural Award for Science. January 2003 Windham received The Boulder Daily Camera Pacesetter Award for Science, Medicine and Health.

Windham’s recent publications include:

Petersen, M.R., B. Kraus, and T. Windham: (2005). Striving towards equity; Underrepresented minorities and mathematics, SIAM News, March (Part I), April (Part II).

Windham, T.L., Kraus, B.E., and Petersen, M.R. (2004). Striving Towards Equity: An analysis of the educational achievement disparities by ethnicity and gender in science, engineering and mathematics, in press.

Windham, T.L., Stevermer, A.J. and Anthes, R.A. (2004). SOARS: An Overview of the Program and Its First 8 Years. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Association, 85(1), 42-47.