The Washington D.C.-based nonprofit, Triangle Coalition for STEM Education, announced yesterday its 2014 board of directors which included a UALR faculty member, Dr. Wendi J.W. Williams.

Dr. Williams is in the UALR Department of Earth Sciences and Northwest Arkansas Community College.

She joins six other new board members from across the nation to serve in the Triangle Coalition which works to improve STEM education through a combination of advocacy, communications, and programmatic efforts.

“Triangle Coalition is fortunate to have a dedicated group of directors returning to their leadership roles in the organization this year, and I’m pleased to welcome the new board members to the fold,” said Coalition Chief Executive Officer Jessica Bridges.

Williams assists first generation, STEM underrepresented students and is especially focused on recruiting talent into geoscience vocations by teaching in pre-college programs that target middle and high school students.

She advocates for better inclusion of persons with disabilities and deliberately uses universal design in her teaching environments. Universal design is the concept of designing all products to be aesthetic and usable to the greatest extent possible by everyone, regardless of their age, ability, or status in life.

She also contributes as a member of the NWA Community College Diversity Task Force and UALR’s Disability Advisory Council.

Williams earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Texas–Arlington, a master of science degree from the University of California–Riverside, and a doctorate from the University of Texas in El Paso.