Bush, a professor of K–12 STEM education and Lockheed Martin Eminent Scholar Chair in the College of Community Innovation and Education was recently appointed to serve as a member of the U.S. National Commission on Mathematics Instruction (USNC/MI). The faculty member’s appointment began in May and will end in December 2028.

An Opportunity for National and Global Impact

Under the umbrella of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, USNC/MI is a standing commission that promotes U.S. participation in mathematics activities around the world. USNC/MI members represent the U.S. through participation in the International Commission on Mathematics Instruction (ICMI), which aims to build global interaction among mathematics educators and researchers. The commission also represents the U.S. in the International Mathematical Union, which fosters efforts to improve the quality of mathematics instruction worldwide.

“For the past 15 years, I’ve been dedicated to interdisciplinary STEM and STEAM work grounded in deep mathematics learning, which not many other members of the commission specialize in,” Bush says. “I’ve also worked with some of the largest school districts in the country to cultivate mathematics teacher-leaders and make systemic improvements in education. These are some of the unique perspectives I bring to the table.”

Part of Bush’s distinct insight is informed by her experience as the director of the , a 30-year partnership that supports K-12 STEM educators pursuing advanced degrees and boosts the quality of mathematics and science education for Central Florida youth.

Guiding the Future With Emerging Technologies

Not only does USNC/MI represent the United States in mathematics education events worldwide, it also provides guidance on timely topics such as innovative technology — such as artificial intelligence (AI) — and instructional strategies in mathematics. Bush believes her expertise will be valuable in the commission’s efforts to provide this guidance.

“To be part of this commission is so exciting,” Bush says. “It’s our voice in mathematics education to the whole world. This appointment is effortlessly synergistic with UCF’s focus on STEM and AI, and it only further elevates the pioneering work we’re doing here.”

With data science and AI currently trending as transformative tools in mathematics education, Bush says they have the potential to allow teachers and students to analyze and interpret mathematical data in a more impactful and efficient way — something she is interested in working with fellow USNC/MI members on regarding instructional guidance.

“AI gives us instant access to information and data that opens doors to a whole new level of conversations in math and STEM instruction,” Bush says. “My current work explores how AI can be intentionally leveraged to make our instruction more authentic and empower students to seek solutions to real challenges on a deeper level.”

“In USNC/MI, we’re not only interested in teaching students how to use AI,” she continues. “We also want to help them think about when and why to use it while being critical consumers who understand its limitations and broader implications.”

A Prestigious Appointment and a Global Stage

Bush received her appointment with USNC/MI through a nomination from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics — the world’s largest PK–12 mathematics education association — for which she served on the board of directors from 2019 to 2022. She says she considers the USNC/MI appointment an extraordinary professional learning opportunity.

“It’s a big honor in our field,” Bush says. “Those I’m serving alongside on the commission have made critical contributions to my field, and they have impactful careers as faculty, distinguished professors, endowed chairs and deans at some of the highest-performing universities in our country. I’ve collaborated with some of them in the past, and others I’ll be working with for the first time. I’m learning so much through this experience because they work in areas adjacent to my own. It still feels a little unreal that I’ve been nominated to join them and represent UCF.”

She says she is looking forward to seeing how her involvement with USNC/MI will unlock new possibilities for discovery and collaboration on the international stage.

Bush and fellow USNC/MI members will also be gearing up to represent the U.S. at the International Congress on Mathematics Education — one of the key events in which the commission is involved. Held every four years, this conference brings together thousands of mathematics educators from around the world to showcase their work, exchange ideas and forge partnerships. The next conference will convene in Prague in Summer 2028.

These K-8 STEM educators, who comprise the Robert Noyce Master Teaching Fellowship program cohort, are each graduating with a doctorate in curriculum and instruction with a specialization in K-8 mathematics education. However, their program doesn’t just end here. They are also serving as teacher leaders advocating for evidence-based instructional practices and transforming the ways in which mathematics education is approached.

The state of Florida has not only faced challenges posed by a shortage of teachers, but also by struggles in retaining highly qualified educators. These needs are often exacerbated in Title I schools, in which many of the Noyce program fellows work. Housed in the College of Community Innovation and Education’s and funded by a U.S. National Science Foundation grant, the five-year program directly addresses the issue of teacher retention through investing in quality educators by increasing their leadership capacity and mathematics expertise. It is led by Sarah Bush, principal investigator, as well as co-principal investigators Lisa Brooks ’92 ’06MEd ’14EdD, Juli Dixon and Brian Moore.

“Leadership capacity entails a combination of knowledge, experience, confidence, passion and opportunity,” Brooks says. “Our fellows are all natural leaders, and they are thriving because they harness the tools given to them and capitalize on every opportunity to follow their passion for ensuring that all students are provided with positive mathematics learning experiences.”

For Shane Wiggan, a Noyce fellow and eighth-grade teacher at Liberty Middle School, being prepared with the knowledge and strategies for effective mathematics instruction has not only helped him support his students’ learning gains but also in encouraging a love of learning.

“This program has equipped me with the tools to encourage students to harness their innate curiosity to solve math problems,” Wiggan says. “Instead of solely aiming to ‘get the correct answer,’ we now approach math tasks by thoroughly comprehending the problem and utilizing our existing knowledge. As a result of this change, I have noticed my students become more confident and enthusiastic.”

Although summer commencement marks the end of the Noyce Fellows’ academic journey, they’ll continue honing their leadership skills through the UCF-Orange County Public Schools Noyce Teacher Leader Academy over the next two years. The academy provides mentorship opportunities — including supervising UCF teacher education interns — that allow the fellows to share their expertise and positively impact both current and future teachers while continuing to teach in their own classrooms.

They’ll also continue an ongoing partnership with nonprofit City Year Orlando, an organization that provides support and resources for high-needs schools through their members taking on roles as volunteer student success coaches. Fellows serve as mentors to these volunteers, some of whom are interested in becoming teachers themselves.

“As I grow in my leadership capacity through the Teacher Leader Academy, I am looking forward to mentoring and supporting … STEM education professionals,” says Nisha Phillip-Malahoo ’21MEd, a Noyce Fellow and third-grade teacher at Pinewood Elementary. “I’m excited to work with these individuals to create opportunities for our students to explore STEM learning by utilizing this professional network to share and gain valuable insights, fostering a culture of continuous improvement within our schools.”

However, their leadership capacity transcends the classroom. Many of the fellows serve on boards and standing committees for national professional organizations, lead districtwide initiatives, present at mathematics education conferences and are publishing their research.

“Our work through the Teacher Leader Academy has always been centered on being responsive to the needs of the fellows and positioning them as leaders,” Brooks says. “We also focus on meeting the needs of Orange County Public Schools and City Year Orlando. Our project has regular online and in-person meetings where we provide ongoing professional learning, mentoring and support to fellows as they continue to serve as leaders, mentors, teachers and advocates.”

For Abigail Ruiz ’16 ’21MEd, another Noyce Fellow and fourth-grade teacher at Hidden Oaks Elementary School, her passion for sparking joy in mathematics with her students is rooted in her own academic journey. Growing up, she had a teacher who inspired her to not only persevere despite finding math difficult, but also to study education at UCF. It was while working toward her master’s degree that Ruiz learned to love math and science education.

“I never experienced the joy in a classroom until then,” Ruiz told a group of fellow teachers at a recent conference for NCSM, a mathematics education leadership organization for which she also sits on the board. “My mission is to help students experience this type of joy much sooner than I did because this type of revelation should not be confined to post-graduate education. Every learner deserves access to the wonder, joy and beauty of mathematics.”

Wiggan adds that teachers can sometimes become accustomed to affecting a finite space, such as a classroom or campus, in which they feel they can make a difference. However, he’s since learned his impact can extend far beyond.

“Overall, the Teacher Leader Academy has helped me realize that the only thing stopping me from making a more significant impact has been myself,” Wiggan says.

“Our top rankings underscore our dedication to research excellence and innovation.” — Winston Schoenfeld, vice president for research and innovation

Recently, U.S. News & World Report ranked UCF among its 2024-25 Best Global Universities — highlighting UCF’s excellence in education across many areas. Among these rankings, UCF received quite a few for highly cited publications.

“We pride ourselves on the impactful research of our faculty, staff and students,” says Winston Schoenfeld, UCF’s vice president for research and innovation. “Our top rankings underscore our dedication to research excellence and innovation, and I am delighted to see a number of our UCF researchers recognized among the most cited in their fields.”

From optics and photonics to health and education, the fingerprints of UCF’s highly cited researchers leave marks on advancements in their fields.

Harnessing Light: Applications of Optics and Photonics

UCF is a global leader in optics and photonics, ranking No. 29 in the world, according to U.S. News & World Report. UCF also ranks among the top 10 in the nation for the field — as well as No. 5 for total optics publications, optics citations and the number of optics publications among the 10% most cited.

These citations are a reflection of advancements in technologies used daily, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and glass.

Several faculty in UCF’s College of Optics and Photonics are highly-cited researchers in their field. One of whom is Pegasus Professor Shin-Tson Wu, whose work has been cited more than 52,000 times, according to Google Scholar (the source used for all following citation counts). Wu’s pioneering research has led to cutting-edge display technologies, including smartphones, tablets, computers, TVs, and, more recently, augmented reality and virtual reality — making them more energy-efficient, vibrant and versatile. This year, Wu received UCF’s inaugural Medal of Societal Impact for his contributions to the field.

“My main priority is not myself,” Wu says. “I am delighted to see my research making impact to the society. A rich life to me is not just about money. It’s helping others have better lives.”

“I am delighted to see my research making impact to the society. A rich life to me is not just about money. It’s helping others have better lives.” — Shin-Tson Wu, Pegasus Professor

Kathleen Richardson, whose expertise is in high tech glass design and fabrication has earned her over 17,800 citations, established and directs UCF’s Glass Processing and Characterization Laboratory. At the lab, she and a team of students design and process novel glass and glass ceramic materials for varying applications. The unique optical properties embedded in the materials have a vast field of applications from thermal imaging instrumentation on a Mars rover to optical phase change materials that change their physical state once triggered by an outside source such as light, which may be useful for detecting toxic leaks.

“Most people don’t realize the role glass plays in our lives,” Richardson said in a 2022 article about her involvement with the United Nation’s Year of Glass. “From Egyptian glass art to infrared security cameras made possible because of glass with special properties, glass has changed our lives. And only now is glass really being recognized for its versatile and renewable possibilities as a sustainable option for challenging problems.”

Fueling Optimal Performance: Nutrition and Exercise Science

Human health and quality of life is another area UCF faculty help improve through their curriculum, research and published work.

UCF ranks No. 92 for Public, Environmental and Occupational Health — placing the university in the top 18% of institutions worldwide, according to the U.S. News & World Report. This year’s ranking is also a 72-spot advancement from the previous ranking.

Researchers, including those in the College of Health and Human Performance (CHPS), at UCF are No. 1 in the nation for the percentage of total publications that are among the 10% most cited in public, environmental and occupational health, and No. 5 in the world.

Jeff Stout, the founding Director of UCF’s School of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences, is one of the world’s leading researchers on of creatine and other dietary supplements and nutritional interventions for performance enhancement — with nearly 27,000 career citations. The Pegasus Professor has researched ways to use nutrition and exercise to improve health for older adults experiencing muscle loss and reduced mobility. His work has also focused on sarcopenia, a condition characterized by loss of muscle mass and function that typically begins after 30.

“The goal of my research is to figure out what is the most optimal way, from both nutritional and exercise perspectives, to slow down the loss of strength and muscle as we age.” — Jeff Stout, Pegasus Professor

“The goal of my research is to figure out what is the most optimal way, from both nutritional and exercise perspectives, to slow down the loss of strength and muscle as we age. This is crucial because the quality of our life in later years is directly affected by these factors,” says Stout. “You want to maintain as much muscle, strength and functionality as possible. Skeletal muscle is very important to overall health. It’s a reservoir of nutrients that our body needs when under stress.”

Some of the most significant findings Stout has discovered include that a combination of resistance training and consuming protein daily promotes muscle growth. Additionally, research shows that consuming 1.4 grams to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight helps adults who exercise regularly maintain sufficient muscle mass.

Excellence in research also extends to staff and leadership at UCF.

With over 21 years of faculty experience at various R1 institutions, Joel Cramer joined UCF’s CHPS in 2022 as senior associate dean for academic and faculty affairs.

His research spans human skeletal muscle health and metabolism across the lifespan. His more recent work aims to identify slower-digesting carbohydrates that don’t spike blood sugar, or insulin levels, which can aid in understanding of diabetes and related diseases. Much of his research, which has been cited more than 15,000 times, has also been sponsored by the USDA and nutritional supplement companies.

“A lot of food products and dietary supplements that are on the market are not particularly well-regulated and anything that we can do to improve the science of understanding of those products is good, so the impact is great for the consumer,” he says.

Cramer’s research impacts extend across the campus community, as he has a passion for supporting young researchers. On Aug. 8, he’ll be broadening that reach across research and faculty support when he becomes UCF’s interim vice provost for faculty excellence.

“It takes a lot of hard work at the beginning [of researchers’ careers] to be, first, published and then cited,” Cramer says. “Understanding and navigating those waters is probably the No. 1 thing I can contribute the most here in the world of university metrics for scholarship.”

Enhancing Education: Improving Student and Teacher Outcomes

For the first time, U.S. News & World Report ranks UCF in the category of Education and Education Research — placing the university at No. 94 in the world. UCF also ranks in the top 40 in the nation.UCF’s College of Community Innovation and Education faculty have earned the university the No. 2 in the nation and No. 4 in the world rankings for the percentage of highly cited papers that are among the top 1% in education and educational research. Learning sciences is a field that aims to advance learning for all, from English to engineering, and research in this area has an exponential impact. For over 10 years, Assistant Professor Michelle Taub has studied positive and negative influences on learning, which has led her to become one of the most highly cited researchers in her field.

With nearly 2,400 career citations, much of the self-described data nerd’s work explores self-regulation, which involves learners’ ability to monitor and regulate their thought, emotional and motivational processes.

To help enhance students’ learning experiences, researchers across disciplines reach out to Taub for her expertise on learning. At UCF, she’s helping engineering faculty enhance foundation course teaching for students. She’s also supporting the UCF Coastal FCI’s Gulf Scholars Program, which aims to recruit students invested in addressing critical problems facing the Gulf of Mexico region.

“My goal is to help learners and that’s a goal that other people are sharing.” — Michelle Taub, assistant professor

“My goal is to help learners and that’s a goal that other people are sharing,” Taub says. “It’s a really good feeling [when other faculty reach out for collaborative projects] because that demonstrates I’m not just doing the research for me to do the research, but it’s actually research that is helping students and teachers.”

Her expertise is also being leveraged on studies with researchers at other institutions, as she’s a co-principal investigator on a North Carolina State ����ֱ�� project aimed at enhancing math and special education, as well as interest in STEM careers, through a video game embedded within a fraction curriculum.

Careers in STEM are growing twice as fast as non-STEM careers, with 11.2 million projected position available by 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While there are many efforts happening nationally to increase students’ interest, access, and success in STEM, research around this topic is critical to making sure the most effective strategies are being implemented.

Professor and Lockheed Martin Eminent Scholar Chair Sarah Bush’s research, which she’s been building on for nearly 15 years, aims to improve STE(A)M education, particularly mathematics. As a former middle school mathematics teacher, Bush knows firsthand the experiences and pressures students and educators face in classrooms.

With over 2,100 career citations, one of her most influential works relates to the benefit of informal learning experiences, such as summer programs, on students’ STEM learning and interest in STEM careers. These experiences have been shown to provide context and purpose to formal learning, provide opportunity and access to STEM education for students, and extend STEM content learning and engagement. This work has been part of Bush’s research as a member of the STEM Rocks Research Collective, which consists of STEM education professionals across more than a dozen institutions in the United States.

“The goal of my research, across numerous STE(A)M education projects and programs, has been to examine how meaningful integration of the STE(A)M disciplines empowers educators and students to be advocates and empathetic solution seekers as they pursue transformational ideas that continue advancing our world,” she says.