'One special teacher pushed me forward.' Columbus can do that for kids| Lewis Von Thaer

Lewis "Lou" Von Thaer is the President and CEO of Battelle.

As the first person in my family to go to college, I have a deep appreciation and understanding of the value of an education.

It changed my life in ways I could never have imagined. One special teacher pushed me forward and sparked my love for engineering.

Lou Von Thaer: These revolutionary science-tech fields will make the world a safer place

At Battelle, we believe STEM — science, technology, engineering, and math — education will help K-12 students realize their full potential.

Some refer to STEAM, which adds "art" to the acronym, we’re ok with that as well.

Even for those who don’t pursue a career in STEM fields, that education provides a foundation for success.

When I became Battelle’s CEO in 2017, the potential to impact the future of our community and our company with STEM support was apparent.

As the world’s largest independent, nonprofit applied science and technology organization, STEM is the foundation of every area of our work. So, we set a goal to impact 1 million students each year with Battelle’s STEM education outreach and philanthropy by 2025.

How was milestone surpassed?

Today, we’re proud to announce we’ve reached that goal, three years ahead of schedule.

In the past year, we have impacted 1.4 million students with high-quality STEM programming. The students were reached through the Ohio STEM Learning Network, the Battelle administered Tennessee STEM Innovation Network, our own philanthropic contributions focused on STEM, outreach through national laboratories where we play a management and operations role, and federal projects.

The story started nearly 20 years ago. 

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