Joseph Danek
Senior Vice President, The Implementation Group
Joe Danek is the most senior member of The Implementation Group, a division of VSConsulting that focuses on consulting for universities and research organizations.
Dr. Danek holds a doctorate in science education, and before entering private practice, he worked many years with the National Science Foundation leading initiatives to improve science education and research.
Dr. Danek is particularly well known for his work in and out of government with EPSCoR, a program designed to expand capacity of meaningful research nationwide.
Joseph Danek is the Senior Vice President of The Implementation Group, a division of VSConsulting. As TIG’s Senior Vice President, Dr. Danek provides consulting services to universities, schools and other not-for-profit organizations in science, mathematics, and engineering education and research improvement. He has a broad understanding and extensive experience in designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating research and education initiatives and R&D improvement strategies through his work at TIG and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Dr. Danek also is the former Executive Director of the EPSCoR Foundation, a not-for-profit organization established by the 21 EPSCoR states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands, to support their efforts to enhance their scientific and technological capabilities. He remains a Senior Advisor to the Foundation.
Prior to his position at TIG, Dr. Danek spent 26 years at the National Science Foundation. As a Senior Executive with the NSF, Dr. Danek served as Director of the Office of Systemic Reform. This office had an annual budget of over $140 million. In this capacity, Dr. Danek directed three NSF educational initiatives: the State-wide Systemic (25 states); the Urban Systemic (25 cities); and the Rural Systemic (8 regions). In addition, he also had responsibility for directing the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). Prior to this, Dr. Danek was the Director of Human Resource Development Division, where he was involved in designing and directing the NSF’s initiatives to increase the participation of minorities, women, and persons with disabilities in science, engineering and mathematics. Dr. Danek also served on several inter-departmental senior management teams.
Dr. Danek earned his B.S. degree from Mount St. Mary’s College (Maryland) and his Ph.D. in Science Education from the University of Maryland, College Park.