Dr. Carol O’Donnell is the Douglas M. Lapp and Anne B. Keiser Director of the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC), an education organization of the Smithsonian Institution dedicated to transforming K-12 Education through Science in collaboration with communities across the globe. Carol is responsible for all operational activities for the organization, including building awareness for K-12 science education reform; supporting professional growth of teachers and school leaders; and, overseeing all research, curriculum development, and philanthropy. In her role as the Lapp-Keiser Director, Carol serves as the U.S. representative on the Global Council of the InterAcademy Partnership Science Education Programme, an appointment by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which jointly founded the SSEC in collaboration with the Smithsonian. Carol serves on the UN Broadband Commission on Sustainable Development Working Group on School Connectivity. She also represents the Smithsonian on the Subcommittee on Federal Coordination in STEM (FC-STEM), which advises and assists the Committee on STEM (CoSTEM) of the Office of Science and Technology Policy of the Executive Office of the President of the US. In her organization's role with the International Dialogue on STEM Education (IDOS), Carol co-authored the position paper “STEM Education for Sustainable Development”. Prior to joining the Smithsonian, Carol was a leader at the US Department of Education, supporting US States’ and districts’ implementation of K-12 federal programs. She oversaw the Cognition and Student Learning research grant of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the research arm of the ED.

Carol is the winner of the 2008 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Graduate Research Excellence Award; 2021 National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity “Unsung Hero Award;” and 2018 University of Pittsburgh Distinguished Alumni Award. O’Donnell’s team at SSEC received the 2018 Smithsonian Innovation in Education Award and the 2024 One Smithsonian Education Award for their work on the Smithsonian Science for Global Goals project.

A former elementary science teacher and curriculum developer, Dr. O’Donnell served for 15 years on the part-time faculty of the Physics Department at The George Washington University, where she earned her doctorate. She earned her Executive Education certificate in nonprofit management from Harvard Business School.