Michael Stone

Michael Stone

Fellowship Placement: National Science Foundation
Hometown: East Ridge, TN

Michael Stone serves as the Vice President of Innovative Learning at the Public Education Foundation in Chattanooga, TN. He led development of the first Fab Lab in the state of Tennessee in 2014, and has since led an effort to open digital fabrication labs in 53 public schools across the United States. In July 2016, he concluded a one-year appointment as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the National Science Foundation in Washington, DC.

After earning a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Bryan College, Michael spent the early part of his career working in Information Technology. However, his passion for education pulled him back to the classroom in 2006 when he began teaching Physics and Chemistry at a private, parochial high school in Tennessee (Hamilton Heights Christian Academy). After receiving a Master of Arts in Instructional Leadership in 2008, Michael moved to public school where he spent five years as an Advanced Placement Calculus and Computer Science teacher. In 2014, he became the Project Based Learning (PBL) Manager and Fabrication Laboratory (FabLab) Director at STEM School Chattanooga where he developed 36 community partnerships with area business leaders that directly impacted his students’ work. He served in this role until moving his family to Washington DC where he worked to support NSF's efforts to broaden participation in rigorous computer science education across the nation. He has authored two books, “Oh! That’s Education?” and “Let Me Try It!” and brings a unique blend of innovative instructional practice and technical skills to the education ecosystem.

In his current role, he develops unique professional development opportunities for teachers in southeast Tennessee, and he supports innovative initiatives across the country as an education consultant. Through his company, devX Professional Development, he has worked with cofounder, Dr. Tony Donen, to train more than 1,000 public school educators and administrators to use their unique learning model to leverage FabLabs to transform student learning. This work has resulted in 12 labs in schools throughout rural communities in central Indiana, and six labs in middle schools in urban parts of Milwaukee.

Since he fellowship, Michael has had the opportunity to present at unique venues throughout the United States and around the globe, including speaking engagements at the White House, NASA Headquarters, the National Science Foundation, the Boston Museum of Science, and AASA National Conference, Malayasia’s STEM Colloquium, and Fab Lab BootCamp in Terras Vedras, Portugal.