Dr. Olga Pierrakos

Dr. Olga Pierrakos (PhD) is a national higher education leader and innovator, interdisciplinary biomedical and mechanical engineer, experienced educator, and mother of four.  She is currently a STEM Education Program Director at the National Science Foundation (NSF) working across the education, engineering, and technology innovation directorates and managing a $50M portfolio of federal investments. Prior to joining NSF for a second stint, Olga served as the Founding Chair of Wake Forest Engineering (2017-2024) from launch to accreditation and led transformational change with a vision to Educate the Whole Engineer for Human Flourishing and positioned Wake Forest Engineering as the 14th Best Undergraduate Engineering Program (2023 US News Report, among 275 US institutions). Achieving unprecedented student and faculty diversity (over 40% women and over 25% racial/ethnic diversity), Olga led leveraged Inclusive Innovation to transform the culture, curriculum, and research enterprise of Wake Forest Engineering, serving as a catalyst for institutional change. Olga has a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and a MS and BS in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech. She has been founding faculty of two brand new U.S. engineering undergraduate programs – Wake Forest University and James Madison University – demonstrating institutional and national transformation of engineering education. Serving in national, state, and regional leadership roles, Olga is a national thought leader in higher education as well as innovation ecosystems. She has been PI on many NSF awards and currently is PI on a multi-year Kern Family Foundation KEEN award targeted at “Educating the Whole Engineer” through innovation (entrepreneurial mindset) and character. Prior to joining WFU, Olga was managing $100M of federal investments as a Program Director at NSF.