Evan Heit

Dr. Evan Heit is the acting deputy assistant director U.S. National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE), which supports basic research on people and society. The SBE sciences focus on human behavior and social organizations and how social, economic, political, cultural and environmental forces affect the lives of people throughout their lifespan and how people in turn shape those forces.

Dr. Heit’s permanent appointment is as the division director for one of the largest divisions at NSF, the Division of Research on Learning in the Directorate for STEM Education (EDU). There he oversees an annual budget of more than $200 million, 50 staff, and 6 scientific research grant programs addressing STEM education and broadening participation in STEM. He also leads the division’s strategic planning, personnel, budgeting and scientific review process. He previously served for one year as acting deputy assistant director of the Directorate for STEM Education. 

Dr. Heit has vast experience in academia and leadership. During his time at NSF, he has served on the steering committees for Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier and Harnessing the Data Revolution, and the coordinating committee for Understanding the Brain. He also chaired the NSF-wide working group for the Convergence Accelerator. He has served in a number of internal NSF groups that concentrate on managing the human capital of the agency, including the IR/D council, IPA steering committee and Performance Review Board. His research is published in an extensive array of peer reviewed journals, and he has served an editor for several publications. Dr. Heit received his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University