Engineers!
Dr. Darin Gray has earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering from USC Viterbi School of Engineering, a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, a Master’s degree in teaching with an emphasis in mathematics from USC Rossier School of Education, a Master’s degree in Cybersecurity from Cal State San Marcos and a Doctorate in Education Technology from Boise State University. He also holds California teaching credentials in math and science.
Darin has received the 2023 USC Amy King Dundon-Berchtold University Club of USC Award for Outstanding Service in the area of DEI, 2023 California Medal of Merit from the California Military Department, 2022 Engineers’ Council STEM Educator Award, the 2020 James E. Ballinger Engineer of the Year award, a USC Alumni Volunteer Award, the Congressional Certificate for Recognition for outstanding and invaluable service to the community, the California Assembly Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Leadership, the California State Senate Certificate of Recognition for excellence in teaching, the California Council for Adult Education Award for Excellence in teaching, the California Medal of Merit, the California Commendation Medal, the California State Military Reserve Enlisted Excellence Medal and the California Assembly Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Leadership.
As the Director of the USC Viterbi K-12 STEM Center, Dr. Gray oversees Center logistics and operations, supervises STEM outreach to K-12 students, manages partnerships with STEM organizations within and outside of the University, and oversees data driven program analyses. He teaches an introduction to engineering course and a cybersecurity seminar at USC. Dr. Gray is also the Director of the USC MESA University program. The program works with USC academic departments and administrative units to provide support to students in order to produce career-ready, candidates for corporate industry employment and academia by providing the tools, resources, and support they need to successfully earn STEM degrees. In addition, Dr. Gray is a SciStater Citizen Science Ambassador and provides volunteers with the knowledge, skills, experiences, and professionally designed resources essential for cultivating and supporting citizen science initiatives within their communities.
Dr. Gray co-founded and served as Vice Chair for the LA STEM Collective, the LA STEM Ecosystem. He served as the 2023-2024 NCWIT DoDSTEM Ambassador. In this role, he worked with other STEM Ambassadors to create and curate remote learning and digital materials such as lesson plans, learning activities, and creative engagement approaches to be shared with educators. He has presented at the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s Annual Conference, National Association for College Admission Counseling’s Guiding the Way to Inclusion Conference, American Society of Engineering Education Conference, the California STEM Symposium, the State of STEM Conference, the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education, the Magnet Schools of America conference, the Science for All Summit, and the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education conference.
After graduating from USC, Dr. Gray worked for the Hughes Aircraft Company’s Advanced Circuit Technology Lab where he designed analog to digital converters for the Radar Systems Group. After leaving Hughes, he worked for 25 years for the Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) Division of Adult and Career Education as a mathematics instructor and as a coordinator for an alternative high school. He has been at USC Viterbi for over 25 years (20 of which while simultaneously working for LAUSD) and prior to being the Director, he was the STEM Coordinator responsible for program support, curricula development and teacher professional development. In addition, Dr. Gray is a retired Master sergeant in the California State Guard in his 10 years of service, he served as a communications specialist, airfield operations specialist, cybersecurity trainer, and IT infrastructure engineer.