Dr. Valerie G. Segovia has been named associate director of outreach and education for the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s Nuclear Engineering and Science Center (NESC) and associate director of the Nuclear Power Institute (NPI).
In her new role, Segovia will work with the NESC director and staff to manage, expand and direct all NESC outreach and education programs. As NPI associate director, she will manage, expand and direct the statewide workforce development mission and supervise all NPI staff.
“I have such great feelings of satisfaction, gratitude and appreciation,” Segovia said in regards to her new roles at NESC and NPI. “Every day is challenging, inspiring and intellectually stimulating in working with our students, educators and partners while meeting our missions.”
Segovia began her career with NPI over a decade ago and has created novel programs that have been implemented across the state of Texas, including the NPI flagship programs, the Powerful Opportunities for Women Eager and Ready for Science, Engineering, and Technology (POWERSET) and Workforce Industry Training (WIT). Traditionally, only 15%-17% of U.S. high school graduates pursue a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) college degree. However, through Segovia’s leadership, an average of 75%-80% of graduating high school students who participated in NPI programs have pursued a STEM degree over the past decade.
Segovia is a Gulf Coast Workforce board member and has worked in the public school system as an elementary teacher, high school counselor, high school assistant principal and high school principal. She was recognized as a Texas Association of Secondary School Principals (TASSP) Region III Principal of the Year and TASSP Texas Principal of the Year Finalist, and won the Joseph B. Whitehead Educator of Distinction Award for Exemplary Dedication to the Field of Education. She was also named a KAVU Channel 25 “Hometown Hero.” Under her leadership and management, Palacios High School was named a “Top Performing School” by U.S. News & World Report.
Segovia holds a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies, master’s degrees – one in counseling and one in administration and supervision, and a doctorate in educational leadership.