Cindy Hasselbring Senior Policy Advisor, STEM Education Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President

Cindy Hasselbring currently serves as Senior Policy Advisor and Assistant Director for STEM Education at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.  In this role, Cindy co-chairs the FC-STEM committee that provides leadership, guidance, and coordination to Federal agencies with STEM education investments to implement the Federal STEM Education Strategic Plan in addition to shaping Federal policy in STEM education.

Previously, she was the Senior Director for AOPA’s High School Aviation Initiative and led efforts to build a four-year aviation STEM curriculum to inspire more students to enter careers in aviation and aerospace. In addition, she developed and planned AOPA’s annual High School Aviation STEM Symposium, which most recently hosted more than 350 educators, administrators, industry representatives and government officials at the United Airlines Flight Training Center in Denver, Colorado. 

She led STEM initiatives as Special Assistant to the State Superintendent at the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) including the expansion of computer science, development of a youth apprenticeship program, and conducting STEM education workshops for approximately 300 Maryland educators. Prior to working at MSDE, Cindy completed two years as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia where she participated in the development of the former Federal STEM education strategic plan.

She is a 16-year veteran mathematics teacher at Milan High School in Michigan and was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and earned National Board Certification during her teaching tenure. As a teacher, she was heavily involved in NASA’s Network of Educator Astronaut Teacher program and participated in numerous teacher workshops and two reduced gravity flights.  Cindy was one of 120 applicants invited to interview for the NASA Astronaut Candidate program in 2013.  She learned to fly in Ann Arbor, Michigan and enjoys flying as a private pilot and has her seaplane rating.