Stephen is seeking election in order to continue to serve as a School Board Director to further Mt Lebanon’s tradition of providing exceptional education and enrichment. As a strong advocate for our children’s public school system, he understands the challenge of maintaining academic rigor while ensuring fiscal responsibility. Meeting this challenge requires careful deliberation and foresight.
Appointed to the School Board in August 2016, he has gained valuable first-hand experience in this important role. Confronting challenging issues with a strong scientific mindset is natural for Stephen. With years of working as an epidemiologist and in an academic environment he has developed invaluable skills that are already having a positive impact on the School District. His ability to play a role in shaping and planning the education within a community that truly values the process of creating and the benefits of a demanding educational program are tasks that he continues to eagerly embrace.
He firmly believes that it is critical to both respect past academic traditions and embrace new and innovative methods to ensure our children are 21st century ready. This requires the schools to address ever-changing competencies while also developing students’ abilities as self-directed learners and problem solvers. We have an obligation in the Mt Lebanon School District to ask the question: What are we doing to purposefully provide students with these skills?
Stephen has earned a Bachelor of Arts in History and Sociology of Science, Technology and Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, a Masters of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from the University of Pittsburgh, and a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh. He has had academic papers published in several refereed scientific journals such as the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health and the Archives of Adolescent and Pediatric Medicine. He has been an active member of the community by being a board member of the Tidal Wave Swim Team, a volunteer with the Jefferson Elementary School PTA, and coaches youth soccer. He currently serves as a Trauma Epidemiologist at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.