Kathryn Lanier, Ph.D.

STEM Education Outreach Director

klanier@southernresearch.org

Lanier joined Southern Research in 2017 as the first STEM Education Outreach Director. She directs a statewide program that aims to inspire young people to pursue careers in science and engineering, in addition to training teachers involved in these fields. In addition to her role at Southern Research, Lanier represents Alabama’s 6th congressional district on the Mathematics Course of Study Committee and Alabama’s 7th congressional district on the Career Technical Education Course of Study Committee. She also serves on the Governor’s Advisory Council for Excellence in STEM. Lanier received her doctorate in chemistry from Georgia Tech, where she worked in the laboratory as part of the NASA Center for the Origin of Life. Lanier received the Georgia Tech Presidential Fellowship, an award allocated to the top 5% of each doctoral class for all four years of her doctoral studies. She was also a molecular biophysics and biotechnology fellow for three years. She was included in Georgia Southern University’s Top 40 under 40 in 2018 and Georgia Tech’s 40 Under 40 class in 2020.