Dr. Mackie
FOUNDER & CEO
Our Team
About Us
Calvin Mackie, PhD
Dr. Mackie founded STEM NOLA, the non-profit organization to expose, inspire and engage communities in learning about opportunities in STEM. Since 2013, STEM NOLA has engaged over 125,000+ students – mostly under-served low-income students – in hands-on STEM project-based learning.
Dr. Calvin Mackie is an award-winning mentor, inventor, author, former engineering professor, internationally renowned speaker, and successful entrepreneur. He is the founder of STEM NOLA, a non-profit organization created to expose, His message and life’s mission continues to transcend race, gender, ethnicity, religion, and time. Dr. Mackie founded STEM NOLA as a non-profit organization to expose, inspire and engage communities in learning about opportunities in STEM. Since 2013, STEM NOLA has engaged over 125,000 students – mostly under-served students of color – in hands-on STEM project-based learning.
A lifelong resident of New Orleans, Dr. Mackie graduated from high school with low test scores requiring him to take special remedial classes at Morehouse College. In 1990, he graduated Magna Cum Laude from Morehouse College with a B.S. degree, as a member of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society. Simultaneously, he was awarded a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, where he subsequently earned his Master’s and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 1996.
While pursuing a doctorate degree, Dr. Mackie served as an instructor of mathematics at Morehouse College. Following graduation, he joined the faculty at Tulane University, where he pursued research related to heat transfer, fluid dynamics, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. In 2002, he was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. Mackie’s eleven-year academic career ended in June 2007, when Tulane University disbanded the engineering school in response to financial hardship induced by Hurricane Katrina. During 2004-2005 academic year, Mackie served as a visiting professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, where he performed research on fuel cells. He enjoyed a respected academic career, before pivoting his career towards entrepreneurship, consulting and professional speaking.
Following the catastrophic Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, former Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco appointed Dr. Mackie to the thirty-three-member board of the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA), the guiding agency that led the state’s rebuilding efforts. As a result of his instant social, political, cultural, and technical credibility, Mackie was prominently featured in Spike Lee’s HBO Katrina documentary, When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Parts (HBO 2006) and its successor If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise (HBO 2010).
He has since appeared on numerous national and local news shows including the PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and The Tom Joyner Morning Show. In 2006, Mackie received international acclaim during a visit to Kuwait as an ambassador of the LRA and the guest of the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait, appearing on Good Morning Kuwait and in numerous international Arab newspapers. Mackie accompanied a Louisiana delegation to the Netherlands participating in an information exchange on water management and flow control.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards appointed Mackie to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). The CPRA was established as the single state entity with authority to articulate a clear statement of priorities and to focus development and implementation efforts to achieve comprehensive coastal protection for Louisiana. Governor Edwards also appointed Mackie to The Louisiana Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Advisory Council (LaSTEM). LaSTEM was established to coordinate and oversee the creation, delivery, and promotion of STEM education program; to increase student interest and achievement in the fields of STEM; to ensure the alignment of education, economic development, industry, and workforce needs; and to increase the number of women who graduate from a postsecondary institution with a STEM degree or credential.
In 2009, then Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal appointed Dr. Mackie to the Louisiana Council on the Social Status of Black Boys and Black Men. The board elected Mackie to chair position where he led the state’s effort to create policy and programs to positively impact the quality of life for black males and families in the state of Louisiana. Committed to community service, Mackie is an active member of the National Speaker Association and the 100 Black Men of Metro New Orleans.
In 2013, Dr. Mackie founded STEM NOLA as a non-profit organization to expose, inspire and engage communities in learning about opportunities in STEM. STEM NOLA designs and delivers activities, programs and events that bring inspiration, motivation and training to all STEM stakeholders (especially students) across entire communities. Since 2013, STEM NOLA has engaged over 75,000+ students – mostly under-served and low-income – in hands-on STEM project-based learning. Nearly half of participants are female and more than 80% are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Dr. Mackie’s inspirational memoir A View from the Roof: Lessons for Life and Business has been adopted as educational course material by secondary school and college teachers throughout the country. His book Grandma’s Hands: Cherished Moments of Faith and Wisdom was awarded a 2012 Silver Medal in the Gift/Keepsake Category by the prestigious Living Now Book Awards.
Dr. Mackie is a devoted husband to his wife, Tracy, and father to his two sons, Myles Ahmad and Mason Amir.