Richard J. Schaar is the retired Executive Advisor to the Office of Education Policy of the Educational and Productivity Solutions (E&PS) Division of Texas Instruments, Incorporated (TI). In this capacity, Dr. Schaar advised TI and its customers in the areas of math and science education policy. He has also served as Senior Vice President of Texas Instruments, Incorporated and as President of TI’s Education and Productivity Solutions business, which he led to a leadership position in educational technology and professional development.

As a past mathematics instructor himself, Dr. Schaar understands many of the challenges that face today’s educators. Under his guidance, TI developed educator support services, including technology training, that help teachers increase their confidence and ability to appropriately integrate technology into their classrooms. This professional development translates into student achievement at the classroom level and helps increase technological literacy, which is increasingly important for students’ future success.

Several years ago, Dr. Schaar recognized the need to increase technological literacy among students to enhance their learning in a classroom setting as well as prepare them to successfully compete in a technology-enabled work environment. With his dual points of view from the academic and corporate worlds, he helps educators better understand how their classroom teaching translates into skill building that will help students in their careers.

An active leader in educational reform, Dr. Schaar served on the National Science Foundation’s Advisory Committee of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, and chaired the Sub-committee on the Instructional Workforce. He extended TI’s commitment to education by partnering with the NSF on educational initiatives, including serving as the leading corporate sponsor of the Urban Systemic Programs, Model Institutions for Excellence and NSF’s Superintendents’ Coalition. Dr. Schaar currently serves on the visiting committee of the University of Chicago’s Physical Sciences Division. In addition, he is one of the co-authors of Finding Common Ground.

Dr. Schaar was the co-sponsor for the John Glenn Commission, and past chair of the Workforce and Human Resource Policy Committee for the American Electronics Association (AeA). In his capacity with the AeA, Dr. Schaar testified in front of the House Appropriations Subcommittee in support of math and science education funding. Under his leadership, TI also supports an Executive Director for the Benjamin Banneker Association (BBA) and helped establish its Dorothy Strong scholarship for professional development.

Dr. Schaar was appointed President of Educational & Productivity Solutions in July 1997. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Science from Purdue University, a Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Mathematics from the University of Chicago, and a Masters of Business Administration from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Schaar has also been recognized with a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.