The Opportunity Equation initiative promotes equity and excellence in mathematics and science education. A partnership between the Institute for Advanced Study and Carnegie Corporation of New York, Opportunity Equation engages national and local decision makers and thought leaders to:

• Establish common mathematics and science standards that are fewer, clearer, and higher, coupled with high-quality assessments
• Improve math and science teaching, along with methods to recruit, prepare, support and manage the nation’s teaching talent
• Redesign schools and systems to deliver math and science learning more effectively.

The initiative was created to carry out the recommendations of the Carnegie Corporation of New York-Institute for Advanced Study Commission on Mathematics and Science Education in its 2009 report, The Opportunity Equation: Transforming Mathematics and Science Education for Citizenship and the Global Economy.

The Opportunity Equation initiative is co-chaired by Michele Cahill, vice president for National Programs at Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Phillip Griffiths, past director and professor emeritus of Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study. Its staff works to advance the recommendations of the report—and thereby to transform American education through the dynamism of high-quality science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning.

Co-Chairs & Staff

Michele Cahill, Co-Chair

Michele Cahill is vice-president for national programs at Carnegie Corporation of New York where she leads the philanthropy’s strategy to expand educational opportunity through systemic change across K-12 and higher education to increase rates of graduation and degree completion by urban and low-income students, and to support expanded pathways to citizenship, civil participation, and civic integration for immigrants and disconnected youth. Recently, Ms. Cahill served as the co-chair of the Carnegie-Institute for Advanced Study Commission on Mathematics and Science Education, managing the development of its report, The Opportunity Equation: Transforming Mathematics and Science Education for Citizenship and the Global Economy. She now serves as co-chair of the Opportunity Equation initiative.

Prior to rejoining Carnegie Corporation in 2007, Ms. Cahill served as senior counselor to the chancellor for education policy in the New York City Department of Education under Chancellor Joel Klein. From its inception in 2002 she was a member of the Children First senior leadership team that oversaw and implemented the full-scale reorganization and reform of the New York City public schools, focusing specifically on district redesign, secondary education reform including new school development and the pioneering multiple pathways to graduation initiative, targeting accelerated learning and graduation by overage and disconnected youth. The secondary education reforms resulted in a more than twenty percent increase in the graduation rate, the largest in decades

Ms. Cahill has more than thirty years experience in education reform, including a decade as the co-founder of the Public Policy Program, a nationally recognized innovative college degree program for non-traditional students at Saint Peter's College. She began her work in education as a community organizer with out-of-school youth in Jersey City, developing alternative education programs, and links to college enrollment.

Ms. Cahill has a B.A. in Urban Affairs from Saint Peter's College and a Masters of Arts in Urban Affairs from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She pursued doctoral studies in social policy and planning at Columbia University where she was a Revson Fellow.

Phillip Griffiths, Co-Chair

Phillip A. Griffiths is professor emeritus of Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study, where he served as professor from 2004-2009 and director from 1991-2003. Prior to joining the Institute, he was provost and James B. Duke professor of Mathematics at Duke University for eight years. From 1972-83 he was a professor of Mathematics at Harvard University. He has also taught at Princeton University and the University of California, Berkeley. He was a member in the Institute’s School of Mathematics from 1968-1970.

Dr. Griffiths served on the National Science Board from 1991-1996. From 1992-1999, he chaired the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy of the U.S. National Academies.

Since 1998, Dr. Griffiths has chaired the Science Initiative Group, an international team of scientists dedicated to building science and engineering capacity in developing countries through innovative programs including the Millennium Science Initiative (MSI) and the Regional Initiative in Science and Education in Africa (RISE).

Dr. Griffiths serves as senior advisor to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Carnegie Fellow at Carnegie Corporation of New York, and he is a Distinguished Presidential Fellow for International Affairs at The National Academies. He is also co-chair of the Opportunity Equation initiative and co-chaired the Carnegie Corporation of New York-Institute for Advanced Study Commission on Mathematics and Science Education, which released The Opportunity Equation: Transforming Mathematics and Science Education for Citizenship and the Global Economy report in 2009.

A native of Raleigh, North Carolina, Dr. Griffiths received his Ph.D. from Princeton University. Among his professional associations, he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the Council on Foreign Relations, and he is a Foreign Associate of TWAS (the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World) and of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences. A former member of the Boards of Directors of Bankers Trust New York Corporation and the GSI Group, he currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Oppenheimer Funds.

Maya (Agarwal) Lundhagen, Project Director

Maya (Agarwal) Lundhagen, Project Director for The Opportunity Equation at the Institute for Advanced Study, is charged with advancing The Opportunity Equation report’s recommendations through a national mobilization. In this role she draws from her experience in engineering, education reform, and informal education.

Prior to joining The Opportunity Equation, Ms. Lundhagen worked for the New York City Department of Education’s innovative Office of Multiple Pathways to Graduation on change management and secondary reform. She also served as Director of Programs for the New York City-based Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education, where she directed the development, implementation, and expansion of a portfolio of K-12 products, services, and programs. She came to The Cloud Institute from The After School Corporation, where she developed an after-school environmental program for high school students with the Central Park Conservancy.

Ms. Lundhagen served in the Peace Corps where she designed drinking water systems and implemented an engineering training program in post-Hurricane Honduras for host country nationals. She also has professional experience in technology management consulting and scientific research.

Ms. Lundhagen has an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a Masters of Engineering in Engineering Management in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Cornell University.

Grace Clawater, Project Associate

In her role as Project Associate, Grace Clawater supports the mobilization efforts of the Opportunity Equation initiative through research, communications, and programmatic and administrative support.

Ms. Clawater brings experience directly from the classroom.  As a 2009 Teach For America corps member, she taught math and science in a Special Day Class setting at International Studies Academy, located in San Francisco, CA.  In addition to teaching, she served as an advisor to the Student Leadership Council and sat on the school's Student Equity and Access Team. 

In the past, Ms. Clawater has worked in an education non-profit setting, providing support at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project's (located at Teachers College, Columbia University) summer institutes.  She also worked on an archeological dig in southern France studying modern human origins.

She holds a Bachelors degree in History from Princeton University.

Justin LaMont, Project Assistant

As Project Assistant, Justin LaMont supports the goals of the Opportunity Equation through technical, communications, programmatic and administrative support.

Mr. LaMont has previously spent time in non-profit consulting and teaching SAT test prep. 

Mr. LaMont graduated from Carleton College with a Bachelors degree in Geology.

Key Consultants

Our consultants include Anne Mackinnon, Donna Gerardi Riordan, and Widmeyer Communications.

Commission on Mathematics and Science Education

The Opportunity Equation report was released by the Carnegie Corporation of New York-Institute for Advanced Study Commission on Mathematics and Science Education in 2009.

The Commission was convened in 2007 to address the concern that U.S. education systems are not providing students with an adequate education in science, mathematics, and technology. It was comprised of knowledgeable, distinguished individuals from government, academia, industry, cultural organizations and educators.

The Commission was convened to:

• Review the status of science and math in the U.S.
• Identify both successes and failures
• Provide recommendations for advancing K-12 science, math, and technology education

Commission Members

Phillip A. Griffiths (chair)
Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Past Director
Institute for Advanced Study

Michele Cahill (co-chair)
Vice President, National Programs
Carnegie Corporation of New York

Bruce M. Alberts
Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco 
Editor-in-Chief, Science Magazine

Larry Berger
Founder and CEO
Wireless Generation

Donald L. Carcieri
Governor of Rhode Island

Ralph J. Cicerone
President
National Academy of Sciences

Rudolph F. Crew
Professor of Clinical Education, Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California

Norman C. Francis
President
Xavier University of Louisiana

Richard B. Freeman
Professor of Economics
Harvard University

Ellen V. Futter
President
American Museum of Natural History

Louis V. Gerstner, Jr.
Senior Advisor
The Carlyle Group

Neil R. Grabois
Consultant and President Emeritus
Colgate University

Vartan Gregorian ex officio
President
Carnegie Corporation of New York

James B. Hunt, Jr.
Partner
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice

Susanna Loeb
Associate Professor of Education, Stanford University
Co-Director, Policy Analysis for California Education

Thomas W. Payzant
Senior Fellow
Harvard Graduate School of Education

Thomas F. Taft, Sr.
President
Taft, Taft and Haigler, PA

Philip Uri Treisman
Professor of Mathematics, University of Texas at Austin
Director, Charles A. Dana Center

Katherine E. Ward
Biology Teacher
Aragon High School (San Mateo, CA)

Gene Wilhoit
Executive Director
Council of Chief State School Officers

Suzanne M. Wilson
Professor of Education and Chair of the Department of Teacher Education
Michigan State University

Gary A. Ybarra
Professor of the Practice and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Duke University

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