PERLA MYERS

Executive Director of Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education Special Assistant to the Dean University of San Diego

Perla Lahana Myers, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education, University of San Diego, is committed to achieving equity in education and diversifying the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. She feels that one step towards these goals is changing the reaction people have when they hear the word mathematics to a smile.

She collaborates with colleagues and community partners to establish, cultivate and sustain mathematical and STEM communities. She is Principal Investigator (PI) of several National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded projects. These include Project AnchorSTEM, to attract and support STEM students, NSF Project VisMO, a paper-folding-inspired program to enhance the visuospatial and mathematical skills of upper-elementary students, and NSF Project eSPAC3, which is developing an immersive, culturally affirming virtual learning experience in Minecraft to foster upper-elementary Latinx students’ thinking skills and career awareness. Myers has extensive volunteer experience. She can be reached at pmyers@sandiego.edu or 619-260-7616.