Stephanie Pace Marshall is the Founding President and President Emerita of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy®. She is internationally recognized as a pioneer and innovative leader and teacher and an inspiring speaker and writer on leadership, learning and schooling, mathematics and science education, talent development, and the design of generative and life-affirming learning organizations.

Marshall has worked in every level of education: superintendent of schools, a district curriculum administrator, a graduate school faculty member, and an elementary and middle school teacher.

She has published over 35 articles in professional journals and was an author for the Drucker Foundation’s series Organizations of the Future. She served as an editor and author of Scientific Literacy for the 21st Century (Prometheus: 2002) and was a contributing advisor to Learning and Understanding: Improving Advanced Study of Mathematics and Science in U. S. High Schools (National Academy of Science: 2002). She is featured in the book, Leaders Who Dare: Pushing the Boundaries (Lyman, Ashby, Tripses:Rowman & Littlefield Education:2005) and is the inspiration behind the book, Smart Alex, a story for adolescent girls . Her book, The Power to Transform: Leadership that Brings Learning and Schooling to Life, (Jossey-Bass:2006) received the 2007 Educator’s Award from The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International.

Marshall was founding president of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools in Mathematics, Science and Technology, and president of the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), one of the world’s largest international education associations. She served as Chairman of the Great Lakes District Selection Committee for the Rhodes Scholarship and as a member of the Commissioning Committee for the USS Abraham Lincoln. At the invitation of Mikhail Gorbachev, she became a member of the State of The World Forum, an international “think-tank” designed to study and resolve issues impacting global sustainability. She is a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers, and Commerce in London, England and serves on the board of the Queen Noor Foundation in Amman, Jordan, and several other foundation and corporate boards in the United States. She is a Trustee of the Society for Science and the Public, a member of the Advisory Board of Games for Change, and a charter member of the Advisory Board for AECT’s Initiative FutureMinds: Transforming American School Systems and The Innovation Council of Chicago. She serves as an advisor to The Thornburg Center for Space Exploration, the Golden Apple Teaching Excellence Center, and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s (CMAP) “Go To 2040” Plan for Higher Education, and is a member of the pilot advisory group for the American Psychological Association’s Study of Impact of Specialized Public High Schools of Science, Mathematics & Technology.

Marshall earned her B.A. from Queens College (New York), her M.A. from the University of Chicago, and her Ph.D. from Loyola University of Chicago and has received four honorary doctorates in science and in arts and letters.

Marshall has been recognized by the R J R Nabisco Corporation as one of the nation’s most innovative educational leaders and by the National Association of School Boards as one of North America’s “100 Top School Executives.” She received two resolutions from the Illinois General Assembly for outstanding contributions to Illinois education.

She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her leadership, including the Distinguished Service Award from the U. S. Marine Corp, the Woman Extraordinaire Award from the International Women’s Association, the Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award from the Boy Scouts of America and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Loyola University of Chicago. The Chicago Sun Times selected her as one of the ten most powerful women in education and one of the 100 most powerful
women in Chicago; she was elected into the inaugural Hall of Fame of Chicago Women’s Today (2002). In 2007, she was elected into the Illinois Hall of Fame and received the Pioneer Award from the Board of Trustees of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. In 2008, she received the Damen Award from the Graduate School of Loyola University.

As a result of her achievements, in 2005 she was inducted into the Lincoln Academy of Illinois and was designated a Laureate of the Academy, the state’s highest award for achievement that “contributes to the betterment of mankind.”

At the invitation of President William Jefferson Clinton, Dr. Marshall became a member in 2007 of the Clinton Global Initiative, a non-partisan cadre of "the world's most influential leaders committed to strengthening the capacity of people throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence.”

Dr. Marshall is a member of numerous corporate and civic groups in Chicago including the Economic Club, The Commercial Club, The Executives Club, and The Chicago Network. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Tellabs, Inc. and Sentry Insurance, and is a member of the Tellabs Foundation, the IMSA Fund for the Advancement of Education, and is a Vice-President of The Fry Foundation in Chicago. She continues to consult with national and international foundations, policy leaders and practitioners as a “thinking partner”—helping to move possibilities to practice.