About the Speaker

Eric J. Jolly, Ph.D., is the president of the Science Museum of Minnesota, which is among the nation’s largest and most-esteemed museums of its kind. The Science Museum of Minnesota is the most visited museum in the Upper Midwest with more than one million visitors each year. In addition, the museum manages business partnerships and programming across the nation and in more than 20 countries worldwide.  

Jolly is known for his contributions to mathematics and science education, frequently working with such groups as the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, National Council for Teachers of Mathematics, and the National Science Teachers Association. Jolly’s work with youth, families, and communities includes diverse organizations such as Youth Alive!, The Innovation Center, American Youth Policy Forum, the American Museum of Natural History community outreach division, the Open Society Institutes’ Youth Media Programs and the AAAS Healthy Families 2010 project.

Jolly was a founding partner to the national "Collaboration for Equity" project, and co-director of “Access by Design”—a technology project of the National Science Foundation. In 1994 he founded the National Institute of Affirmative Action.

He serves on numerous national and local advisory boards, including the Mathematical Sciences Education Board of the National Academies of Science, Committee on Opportunities in Science for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Private Colleges Council, the Minneapolis Foundation, and the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Technology Dean’s Advisory Board.

Jolly has published many scholarly articles and lectured throughout the world. Most recently, he published “Engagement, Capacity and Continuity:  A Trilogy For Student Success,” which analyzes why successful individual reform efforts have not led to broader increases in students achieving at high levels nor entering science and math oriented careers.  He is also the author of numerous books, articles, and curricula for students and teachers across the educational spectrum, including "Bridging Homes and Schools," (a comprehensive resource for teachers of Limited English Proficiency students), and “Beyond Blame: Reacting to the Terrorist Attack.” His curricula are currently used in more than 16 countries and an estimated 400,000 classrooms worldwide.

Prior to joining the Science Museum of Minnesota in 2004, Jolly served as senior scientist and vice president for Education Development Center in Newton, Mass. Jolly has served as senior fellow for the UCLA School of Public Policy, an Osher Fellow for the Exploratorium of San Francisco, and as a Kellogg National Leadership Fellow. He is a member of numerous honor societies, including Sigma Xi, Phi Eta Sigma, Mortarboard, and Golden Key. He is also a life member of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. 

Jolly has a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Oklahoma.  His undergraduate studies were physics and psychology. Jolly is an accomplished basket weaver and proficient in American sign language.