SRI International Announces New Co-Director for Its Center for Technology in Learning, Dr. Nora Sabelli
Former National Science Foundation Senior Program Director Joins Renowned SRI Team
MENLO PARK, Calif. - December 3, 2001 - SRI International, a leading independent, nonprofit scientific research institute based in Silicon Valley, today announced the appointment of Nora H. Sabelli, Ph.D., as co-director for SRI's Center for Technology in Learning (CTL).
Prior to joining SRI International, Dr. Sabelli was Senior Program Director for the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Education and Human Resources, and worked on many NSF-wide and cross-agency initiatives, such as Learning and Intelligent Systems and Interagency Education Research Initiatives. At the NSF, she focused on the support of research on the use of current scientific advances and technological opportunities to help provide quality science and mathematics education for all students. While at the NSF, Dr. Sabelli worked on education issues at the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), which serves as a source of scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the President with respect to major policies, plans, and programs of the Federal Government.
SRI considers the effective use of technology to support learning so important that they established the CTL within SRI's Policy Division in the mid-1990s. The Division is closely allied with all of the division's ongoing education and health research programs. The Policy Division focuses on helping government, nonprofit, and commercial clients solve problems and capitalize on opportunities posed by complex issues in education, training, health, economic development and human services.
Dr. Sabelli will work with Barbara Means, Ph.D., the Center's director since 1999. As co-director, Dr. Sabelli is focusing on the Center's mission and strategies to improve education through innovation and inquiry.
"The CTL feels that successfully integrating technology into the classroom is one of the biggest challenges facing 21st Century educators, and we are committed to improving and aiding this process, " said Dr. Means. "This effort requires understanding how people learn, how education systems function and change, the capabilities of new technologies, and the content to be taught. Dr. Sabelli brings to the CTL her nationally recognized expertise both in technology-supported education reform and in science and math education."
Dr. Sabelli received a Ph.D. in theoretical organic chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina for research performed at the University of Chicago. In addition to her directorship at the NSF, Dr. Sabelli's former positions include senior research scientist and assistant director for education at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and associate professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has authored many research publications in her field and has co-directed three research theses.
About SRI's Center for Technology in Learning
SRI's Center for Technology in Learning (CTL) is world-renowned for its design, evaluation, and implementation of educational technologies. The staff, including psychologists, computer scientists, content specialists, anthropologists and educators, conducts innovative research and development for clients such as the National Science Foundation, the World Bank, the US Department of Education, LEGO, Sun Microsystems, and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
