Washington, D.C.—Scientist, teacher, and co-director of the Carnegie Academy for Science Education (CASE), Toby Horn, will receive the 2009 Bruce Alberts Award for Excellence in Science Education from the American Society for Cell Biology at their December meeting.
As co-director the of CASE, Horn carries on the 20-year Carnegie tradition of offering professional development to Washington, D.C., science, mathematics and technology teachers using inquiry-based, hands-on learning. Current CASE programs serve District of Columbia teachers of all grade levels and students in middle school and high school.
Horn, a molecular and developmental biologist, is being honored “for her sustained contributions to K-12 science education.” She began her career in science with a bachelors degree in chemistry from Bryn Mawr College and then she earned a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Horn had her postdoctoral training at The Johns Hopkins University and then became staff fellow at the National Cancer Institute.
After her years at the bench, Horn turned to teaching. From 1985 to 1999 she was the life science and biotechnology lab director at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia, where she established one of the first pre-college biotechnology programs in the country. She taught more than 4000 Jefferson students biotechnology using inquiry-based, hands-on, laboratory learning.
From 1999 to 2001 Horn was the outreach coordinator for the Fralin Biotechnology Center at Virginia Tech. She joined CASE in 2001 to train teachers and students in the art of teaching and learning science. She has been working in the D.C. public schools since then as CASE co-director and she is the principal investigator for a project called DCBiotech: Improving Opportunities for Urban Minority Students. Horn is past president of the National Association of Biology Teachers.
“Carnegie is privileged to have Toby Horn on staff and I congratulate her on this award,” remarked Carnegie president Richard Meserve. “Through CASE, the Carnegie Institution is dedicated to promoting the teaching and learning of science and math in D.C. schools. Horn’s contributions to science education are laudable and are helping to mold the next generation.”