Board of Directors

Lisa Aucoin recently retired from BAE Systems after a distinguished career spanning more than 30 years in the aerospace and defense industry. Most recently, she served as Vice President at BAE Systems, where she led major engineering and business initiatives across multiple areas of the company.

In her previous leadership roles, including Deputy Vice President and Engineering Director for the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Solutions (ISRS) Business Area, Lisa was the engineering authority for all activities within ISRS. She oversaw technology and product roadmaps, resource allocation, domain training, and engineering execution on proposals and programs.

Before that, Lisa was Director of the Integrated Vision Solutions Product Line for the Survivability and Targeting Solutions Business Area within the Electronic Systems Sector in Austin, Texas. In this role, she was responsible for strategy, product development, and program execution for platform-based situational awareness products, force protection, base defense, advanced mission electronics, and embedded training systems. She also served as Director of the Soldier Solution Product Line for the Soldiers and Vehicle Solutions Business Area.

Throughout her career, Lisa has held diverse roles ranging from research and development to high-volume manufacturing, supply chain program management, and new business capture. She has extensive experience in Lean Product Development and Six Sigma.

Lisa earned a Master of Science in Physics from Northeastern University and is a member of professional organizations including the Society of Women Engineers and the National Defense Industry Association. She has served as chairperson for The DOME (Diversity and Outreach for Math and Engineering) Foundation board of directors and continues to serve on the board of the Global STEM Education Center, Inc. She has also held positions on the Massachusetts High Technology Council, the New Hampshire High Technology Council, and the Natick Science & Technology Board of Directors.

Larisa K. Schelkin is CEO, Global STEM Education Center, Inc. 501(c) (3) nonprofit corporation; She is President of the Global STEM EducationConsulting, LLC. Larisa is a teaching faculty at the United

National Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Global Diplomacy Fellowship Program, she

teaches courses on Science Diplomacy, UN Sustainable Development Goals, Global Environmental

Outlook, UN Environmental program, Environmental Science Diplomacy. Larisa is a UNITAR Fellow on

Global Diplomacy (Class 2021), a Fellow on Education Policy and Research, Rennie Center for

Educational Research and Policy & Institute for Education Leadership (IEL), Washington, DC (Class

2015) and a Fellow and Board member of Massachusetts Academy of Science. Larisa held executive

positions both in academia & global STEM corporations (WPI, WIT, Tufts University; TYCO Electronics

Global Corporation). She has more than 20 years of professional experiences in engineering research and

development; Larisa studied Global Education at Harvard University Graduate School of Education

“Think Tank” in Spring 2015 - 2019; She completed the “Instructional Leadership” program (2024),

Media and Technology in Education Program (2021) at Harvard University Graduate School of Education

and “Disruptive Strategies” at Harvard Business School Online (2020); Larisa is a NASA GLOBE

Partner since 2014, GLOBE educator, GLOBE International STEM Network member (GISN), she served

as a GLOBE IVSS judge and GLOBE SRS Leadership team; Larisa Schelkin is the author of the Global

STEM Classroom ® teaching and learning model. She has developed over 35 Global STEM projects and

established partnerships with K-12 schools & universities in 12 countries since 2007. She serves on the

Governing Board, Journal for Science Policy and Governance. She is a Chair of the World Council on

Intercultural and Global Competency Working Group on the intersection of Science Diplomacy and ICC.

Larisa is a frequent speaker at the UN General Assembly Science Summit, she serves on the UNGA SS

Planning Committee since 2020 and is a Chair of the UNGA SS Space Program Committee. Larisa is

strong advocate for science diplomacy, for women in science and engineering and for diversity and

inclusion in STEM; Larisa is a proud member of AAAS, INWES, SWE, NSBE, ASEE, ISTE and WES

(Women in Science and Engineering in the UK). She holds BS and MS in Petroleum Engineering & MS

in Computer Science. Prior to moving to Massachusetts, USA, Larisa and her family lived in

Bashkortostan (Ufa, Ural Mountains), Russia (Moscow), India (Surat, Gujarat, Bangalore, Bombay) and

in Africa (Algeria, Morocco).

  Norean R. Sharpe, Dean, The Peter J. Tobin College of Business, St. John's University, New York, NY; prior to that, Norean served as Dean, Undergraduate Program, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University since 2009 to 2016; Sharpe’s career spans 20 years. She was Professor of Statistics and Chair of the Division of Mathematics and Science at Babson College in Wellesley, MA, where she taught for 14 years. In her role as Department Chair, she facilitated the revision of the undergraduate business curriculum and improvement of the co-curricular experience of students. She also developed a strategic plan for quantitative undergraduate education, advised students, mentored faculty, and chaired multiple task forces that examined the academic, social, and cultural issues facing undergraduate business students. Sharpe has held previous appointments at Bowdoin College and Yale University and as a scholar, has authored over 30 articles – primarily in the areas of statistics education and women in science. Sharpe earned a Ph.D. in systems engineering from the University of Virginia, a M.S. in biomathematics from the University of North Carolina, and a B.A. in mathematics and German from Mount Holyoke College.