Michael Vargas Email & Phone Number

I spent a decade (2001 -2012) at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (NATO Headquarters) in Mons Belgium. I believe I possess a complexity of experience that is multi-disciplinary and broad spectrum. I understand military protocol and I am experienced in navigating these kinds of organizations and systems. I am skilled and certified in Physics, Earth and Space Sciences, and World History with an emphasis on ancient cultures. I am a European championship former coach who knows how to lead towards results and motivate a locker room. I demand excellence from my teams and won’t settle for anything less. I am an Arizona native and proud of it. As a product of the Peoria and Alhambra school systems, I believe that education is the foremost number one issue facing our country today. I am a proponent of educational modeling instruction and the integration of STEM in every classroom. Convergence and Transdisciplinary learning is my jam. As a STEM diplomat I have led multiple organizations for the purpose of creating better student and teacher outcomes. My current focus is STEM ecosystem construction and building programs to capacity by building networks and leveraging existing resources. What I really enjoy is creating force multipliers that accelerate change. I served as an Albert Einstein Fellow in Washington DC for the Department of Defense in both the MANTECH Office (Office of Manufacturing Technology) working on workforce development and also with the newly created Department of the Air Force STEM National Office, now the Air and Space Forces National STEM Office as employee number one. In that role I helped create the Space Forces STEM to Space program and worked on Department of Defense STEM (DOD STEM) initiatives including helping to manage large scale grants and public STEM outreach programs. I still volunteer with Space Force every December and plan to never stop doing so !I currently serve as the Convergence Lead for the Arizona STEM Acceleration Project at Arizona State University, directing the largest STEM Education acceleration initiative in the state. This 10 million-dollar program is helping to reimagine the STEM Education Ecosystem in Arizona. This project is run under the Center for Science and the Imagination in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. I am a lifetime member of the Air Force Association and their 2019 Rolls Royce National Aerospace Teacher of the Year Award. Lastly – I am a current PhD student at Texas Tech University pursuing a degree in STEM Leadership and Policy. 3/4 complete with a 4.0 GPA as of 2024

Listed skills include Teaching, Public Speaking, Basketball, Basketball Coaching, and 19 others.