Dr. Mark Biermann, Wartburg College vice president for academic affairs, has been named to an advisory board for the Governor’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Advisory Council.

Gov. Terry Branstad and co-chairs Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and University of Northern Iowa President Ben Allen, announced that Biermann would serve on the 15-member northeast regional STEM network advisory board.

The six regional network hubs are the first major initiative of the new council, a public-private partnership aimed at boosting student achievement in science, technology, engineering and math education, while promoting STEM economic development.

Biermann has a strong background in the sciences. His bachelor and master’s degrees and his doctorate are in optics. Prior to coming to Wartburg in June, he served as dean of the School of Natural and Applied Sciences at Taylor University in Upland, Ind. He also taught physics at four colleges and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

“I am excited and honored to be a part of the STEM network advisory board,” Biermann said, “and I look forward to contributing in significant ways to the work of the advisory board as we seek to achieve the important goals of the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council.”

 “The members of the STEM Regional Advisory Boards will serve as boots on the ground and be the most entrenched members of the STEM initiative in their region of Iowa,” Reynolds said. “I am confident that the appointees will provide leadership and assistance in launching the STEM initiative into every school in the state.”