Ben Smith leads McDaniel College's new STEM Center

McDaniel College announces Ben Smith as the director of the college’s new STEM Center.

In this role, Smith supports the recruitment, retention, and success of McDaniel students studying STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). This includes courses in the biology, chemistry, economics and business administration, environmental studies, kinesiology, mathematics and computer science, and physics departments. He also collaborates with faculty in these departments by providing professional development opportunities.

McDaniel’s STEM Center is a comprehensive college-wide academic resource. In addition to a physical hub for the sciences and quantitively rich disciplines located in the college’s Hoover Library, online and hybrid support is also available for students. Currently, nearly 20 students have been trained as learning assistants to provide peer-to-peer tutoring.

The STEM Center also hosts workshops and other events, as well as plans to work with the college’s science related student organizations, such as the STEM Club and Beta Beta Beta (TriBeta) biology honor society.

Smith, who also serves as a lecturer at the college, teaching “Mathematical Foundations” and “Quantitative Peer Tutoring,” is passionate about STEM education and says that the goal of the Center is to help students taking STEM courses succeed academically, regardless of whether they are majoring or minoring in a STEM discipline.

“With the launch of the STEM Center, McDaniel is investing in the success of all students in STEM, making sure everyone has the resources they need to not only succeed, but thrive,” said Smith.

Formerly the director of the quantitative and symbolic reasoning center and peer education coordinator at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., Smith earned a master’s degree in mathematics from Binghamton University, where he also served as assistant director for learning assistance. He completed post-baccalaureate studies in mathematics at Washington University in Bellingham, Wash., and holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Western Washington University and an associate degree in mathematics from Centralia College in Centralia, Wash.

McDaniel College, founded in 1867, is a four-year, independent college of the liberal arts and sciences offering more than 70 undergraduate programs of study, including pre-professional specializations and student-designed majors, and over 20 graduate programs. One of 40 "Colleges That Change Lives," McDaniel emphasizes experiential learning and student-faculty collaboration to develop the unique potential in every student. Represented by the Green Terror, its 24 athletic teams compete in the NCAA Division III Centennial Conference. A student-centered community of 1,800 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students offers access to both Baltimore and Washington, D.C., plus a European campus in Budapest, Hungary. www.mcdaniel.edu