Wendy Katkin has long been involved in initiatives to enhance undergraduate education at research universities. As Associate Provost for Educational Initiatives at the University at Stony Brook, she has provided leadership in the development and implementation of programs to improve teaching and student learning. She founded and for five years directed Stony Brook's nationally-recognized Women in Science and Engineering project (WISE), designed to engage high-ability high school and college women in the excitement and challenge of science and math. She also initiated many of the University's undergraduate research programs. These innovations were critical to Stony Brook being one of ten research universities nationwide selected by the National Science Foundation in 1997 for a Recognition Award for the Integration of Research and Education (RAIRE).  Dr. Katkin played a pivotal role in the activities cited by the TIAA-CREF when Stony Brook was one of three institutions honored in 1999 with a Theodore M. Hesburgh Certificate of Excellence for Faculty Development to Enhance Undergraduate Teaching and Learning. In 1991, she was cited by the U.S. Department of Energy for her contributions to the math and science education of minority students. Dr. Katkin has a PhD in English (1973; University at Buffalo) and an MS in Psychology (1976; University at Buffalo). She has written on issues relating to women in science and is co-editor of a book, Beyond Pluralism: Essays on the Definition of Groups and Group Identities in American History (1998).

Mary Leming has a Bachelor's degree from Williams College (1990) and a PhD in Comparative Literature from Stony Brook (1999). Upon graduating from Williams, she worked as a writing tutor and counselor for the Bard College Higher Education Opportunity Program. During her doctoral studies, she served as staff to the Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University.

Debra Palmese has been employed at the University at Stony Brook since graduating from high school in 1989. She has served as an assistant in the College of Arts and Sciences Deans' Office and the Provost's Office, where she has been responsible for providing staff support to summer research programs, the University's Women in Science and Engineering Program (WISE), and other special programs.