Under the new program led by AAAS, educational institutions commit to removing barriers to STEM achievement for women, minorities and people with disabilities through participating in a program of voluntary self-assessment.

Dan Pearce—an engineer, architect, general contractor, and artist—is enjoying a circuitous career. He spent nearly a decade as an aerospace engineer at NASA in Houston and then he moved with his wife as she pursued an academic career at the University of Virginia.

Not finding many aerospace engineering opportunities in his new hometown of Charlottesville, Pearce became involved in other projects, including building a solar-powered house for his family and creating unusual sculptures.