Jeff Weld, Ph.D. is Executive Director for the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, a post he’s occupied since its inception in 2011. Additionally, Jeff just completed service as STEM Education Policy Consultant for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy after serving through 2018 as Senior Policy Advisor and Assistant Director, to lead the production of America's Strategic Plan for STEM Education, published on December 4, 2018. He is on extended leave from a faculty position in the Department of Biology at the University of Northern Iowa.  

The Triangle Coalition for STEM recognized Jeff in 2014 with their STEM Champion Award. In 2013 his alma mater the University of Iowa bestowed upon Weld their Alumni of Distinction Honor by the College of Education. As a faculty member at Oklahoma State University and currently the University of Northern Iowa, Jeff secured $5.6 million in grants, published scores of research articles, essays, chapters and two books, the latest Creating a STEM Culture for Teaching and Learning, (NSTA Press, 2017). A decorated former teacher and professor, Jeff was the 2007 national collegiate biology teacher of the year.