Deidre B. Sessoms, Ph.D., is Professor in the College of Education, Co-Director of the CSU Student Success Network and Founding Director of the Student Research Center at California State University, Sacramento. Deidre advises numerous STEM education projects in the California State University system, including the STAR Program (STEM Teacher and Researcher), the “Next Generation of Teachers for California” system-wide initiative, and Next Generation Science Standards implementation in teacher preparation. She has a long history of NSF and other funding for STEM student success, having procured almost $6 million dollars in federal, state, and philanthropic dollars for STEM education projects. These include strengthening STEM Career Pathways across the high school to community college to university continuum; providing summer research experiences for future math and science teachers; incorporating engineering design practices into science courses for future elementary teachers; and providing STEM teacher professional development to implement the Common Core and NGSS in high schools.