Dr. Gisele Ragusa is a professor at engineering education practice at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. For the past three years, Gisele has led the USC Viterbi School Dean’s Engaged Learning Initiative; she also co-chairs and directs the university’s STEM Education Consortium. Her research interests and areas of expertise include engineering innovation and global preparedness, college access for first-generation college students and students from diverse backgrounds, STEM PK-12 education and teacher education, and STEM literacy education. Gisele is also active in many professional associations in the engineering and science education, teacher education, distance learning, program evaluation and special education fields. She has served as a principal investigator on more than 30 federal grants through the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.