Download a high resolution photo of Robert Sherwood.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt University professor Robert D.
Sherwood is on loan from the university to the National Science
Foundation (NSF), where he will play an integral role in the funding of
research and education.
An associate professor of education and former chair of the
Department of Teaching and Learning at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of
education and human development, Sherwood is serving as a program
director in the division of elementary, secondary and informal
education in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources at the
NSF.
In this role, Sherwood will recommend funding of proposals for
education research within the division. He will be involved in
implementing the research proposal review and evaluation process and
conduct final reviews of proposals. He will also evaluate projects and
activities of funded proposals and be involved with interagency
agreements with other federal agencies for funding to assist in the
support of research and education.
Sherwood has been active in several NSF funded grants, such as the
"Adventures of Jasper Woodbury," a series of videodiscs designed for
middle grades that focuses on mathematical problem finding and problem
solving, and a similar effort, "Scientists in Action," designed
to help middle and secondary school science classes.
He has served as associate director of Vanderbilt’s Learning Technology Center
and
has had teaching responsibilities in both science education and the
uses of information technology in education as part of his faculty
appointment. He is the author or co-author of more than 30 articles,
chapters and books related to his research areas.
The NSF recruits faculty from universities to fill program director
roles on a rotating basis through the Intergovernmental Personal Act
(IPA), which provides for the temporary assignment of personnel between
the federal government and state and local governments, colleges and
universities, Indian tribal governments, federally funded research and
development centers, and other eligible organizations.
Sherwood is a 1967 graduate of Mitchell High School in Mitchell,
Ind., and received his undergraduate and master’s degrees in chemistry
from Purdue University. He completed his Ph.D. in science
education and educational research at Indiana University and held a
faculty position at New York University before joining Vanderbilt’s
faculty in 1983. His parents are Hollace D. and the late Ila J.
Sherwood of Mitchell, and he is married to Linda (Clouse) Sherwood,
daughter of the later Paul and Wilda Clouse of Mitchell. His son,
Daniel, is a process systems specialist with the corporate headquarters
of Walgreen’s, and his daughter, Rachael, is a registered nurse at
Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Sherwood and his wife will
live in Arlington, Va., during his tenure at the NSF.
Media contact: Princine Lewis, (615) 322-NEWS
Princine.l.lewis@vanderbilt.edu