The History of WISE

The Westminster Institute for Science Education was founded informaly in 2006 by a small team with an unusual combination of backgrounds. Doctors Harrow and Alvelda came to the WISE mission with decades of experience across broad range of science, math, and engineering disciplines. Starting with impeccable educational credentials, their carreers spanned stints as educators from the secondary through graduate levels, a period as a practicing scientist and engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and experience founding and building an international company based on scientific and technical innovation.

Despite their disparate beginnings, Chris and Phillip clearly shared the love of discovery, a passion for innovation, and the personal mission to share the excitement. WISE was born to fulfill this mission on a national scale, and in the process, create the 21st century's world leaders. The team's diverse experience turned out to be the perfect foundation upon which to build a national-scale education innovator.

The WISE mission and philosophy evolved over the course of 2006 through intense discussions, research into best practices in science, math, and technology education, and numerous visits to dozens of US secondary schools and universities. After almost a year of research and development, WISE was finally ready to launch its first lab at the Institute's charter school location, The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Georgia. Since the opening of the first WISE Lab at the beginning of the 2007 school year, the Berkeley Montessori School has joined the WISE network, and several other schools across the nation are currently in active discussions to evaluate the benefits of WISE Network membership.

The institute is now in the process of working with several corporate and private sponsors to support and expand both local and nation-scale efforts, and has several federal and local grant applications pending that will fuel further growth.

The WISE Leadership Team

Dr. Phillip Alvelda, Chairman and Founder

Dr. Chris Harrow, Vice-Chair, Lab Director, and Founder

The WISE Board of Trustees

Dr. Phillip Alvelda, Chairman and Founder

Dr. Chris Harrow, Vice-Chair, Lab Director, and Founder

Dr. Jonathan W. Simons, President & CEO, Prostate Cancer Foundation

Dr. William Clarkson, Headmaster, the Westminster Schools

Mr. Chris Allen, Principal, Bessemer Trust

Mr. Jere Wells, Assistant Headmaster, The Westminster Schools

The WISE Advisory Board

Dr. Leon Lederman, Nobel Prize winner, Fermi Lab, IMSA founder

Dr. Jerry Pine, Caltech, CAPSI Founder and PI

Dr. Thomas Knight, MIT, Founder of Synthetic Biology

Dr. Kim Vandiver, MIT Edgerton Center and K-12 program Director