Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Science Educators

Mark Ryan (1998)

Mark Ryan graduated from the Suffolk University Biology Department with an A.B. Degree in 1966. He was one of the first to attend their Marine Science Summer Program, which was held at Cobbs Cook State Park in Maine. From 1968-70 he attended Worcester Polytech in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he received a Masters of Natural Science Degree.

During summer vacations he has attended many NSF-sponsored programs at such universities as Tufts, UC Berkley, and Princeton. With the information learned at these summer programs, he has introduced innovative lab activities into his classrooms at Medford High School. As staffing needs changed, he taught more sections of high school Chemistry and introduced Micro Scale Chemistry to the high school curriculum in 1987.

Seeing a need to teach Physical and Chemical Sciences at the elementary school level, he wrote an elementary Chemistry program complete with lessons, demos and student activities. The elementary Chemistry program that he wrote became the nucleus of an NSF-funded program called Chemistry For Elementary Teachers (C4ET).

Mark taught a summer program at the University of Southern Mississippi from 1988 to 1993. He became the K-12 Science Coordinator for the Medford School System in 1992, and has continued staff development programs for all K-12 teachers. Over the past few years, he has formed Science teacher study groups to help implement the new Science and Technology Standards into the Medford Science Curriculum.

Mark has served as a committee member and as President of the Massachusetts State Science Fair during the past thirteen years. He is currently the President of the North Shore Science Supervisors Association, where he plans active monthly meetings to update colleagues with new information in Science education.

Special Honors:

• Currently serves as President of the North Shore Science Supervisors Association
• Served as committee member and President of the Massachusetts State Science Fair from 1985 to the present
• Inducted into the Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Science Educators this year
• Member of the National Science Educational Leadership Association

Last Modified: October 7, 2004