LANCASTER, Pa. — The POGIL Project, a national not-for-profit organization that disseminates its unique student-centered pedagogy at the secondary and college levels and provides professional development opportunities for instructors, has named two educators to three-year terms on its Steering Committee. The seven-member POGIL Project Steering Committee provides definition and direction to the goals of The Project.
The two educators are Dr. Dan Libby, Moravian University (ret.) and Dr. Melissa Reeves, Tuskegee University. They will officially begin their terms at the 2023 POGIL National Meeting in June.
“We are Thrilled to have these two talented, experienced, and enthusiastic practitioners join our Steering Committee this year,” said Project Executive Director Rick Moog. “They bring rich experiences to this leadership team and will be key in helping us to create our next five-year strategic plan.”
Libby received a B.A. degree in chemistry from Colby College in 1968. He received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Penn State University in 1974. In 2015, Libby retired after 41 years of undergraduate teaching and research at Moravian University, as well as at Colby, Barnard, Skidmore, Kenyon and Oberlin Colleges. His research involved mechanisms of enzyme reactions. Libby has used personally written learning cycle-based activities to teach all of his courses since 1980 and has facilitated POGIL workshops across the United States and in India.
“POGIL is a refreshing and reaffirming community of professionals,” said Libby. “I am looking forward to serving on the Steering Committee for the next three years.”
Reeves received her B.S. in chemistry at the University of Florida (1988) and her Ph.D. in chemistry at Indiana University at Bloomington (1991). She is a Professor of Chemistry and Assistant Department Head at Tuskegee University, a private, historically black, masters-granting institution with Ph.D. programs in select areas. Reeves’ research interests in computational physical chemistry have ranged from calculating transition states of small molecule reactions in solution to molecular dynamics of polymers, although she is transitioning to focus on chemical education research. In addition to being the 2021 Ashford Fellow with the ACS Exams Institute, she has served on two consecutive Physical Chemistry Exams committees and currently is on the Exams Institute Board of Trustees. She was part of the Physical Chemistry Online (PCOL) group in the early 2000s, and she currently participates in the POGIL Physical Chemistry Laboratory (POGIL-PCL) community. She is also a participant in the POGIL Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER) project. She has also served as part of the Strategic Plan Working Group and with the POGIL Activity Clearinghouse. From 2004-06, she served as the Director of Undergraduate Research for Tuskegee University, and from 2005-2011, she was the Director of the Tuskegee University Material Science and Engineering Research Experience for Undergraduates program.
“Joining the Steering Committee is my chance to give back to The POGIL Project while working with the best colleagues I know,” said Reeves “I'm excited to see where we can take The Project through the next strategic plan.”
