Events

Keynote

2023 Tampa Undergraduate Research Showcase Keynote Speaker

Dr. AnnMaria Rousey De Mars earned her Ph.D. and M.A. from University of California, Riverside, MBA from the University of Minnesota, and BSBA from Washington University in St. Louis. She began her career as an industrial engineer, loved the statistical analysis aspect of her job so much she returned to school for a doctorate specializing in applied statistics and psychometrics. After seven years as a full-time faculty member in North Dakota, where she assisted with the accreditation of Little Hoop Community College (now named Cankdeska Cikana Community College), she transitioned to entrepreneurship.

She has founded or co-founded three companies and one non-profit foundation. Dr. De Mars is the Academic Programs Development Coordinator at California Indian Nations College, responsible for strengthening and growing academic departments. She is also co-founder and president of 7 Generation Games, creating and researching games designed to bridge the mathematics achievement gap in underserved communities. Dr. De Mars' company has 16 games in schools with approximatley 50,000 users. From 2020-22 she was Principal Investigator of the Growing Math project, funded by USDA.

She has four daughters, eight grandchildren, one extremely patient husband, and a very large standard poodle. Dr. De Mars has been one of Forbes 40 women to watch over 40, an AARP Purpose Prize Fellow, International Game Developers Association Foundation Next Gen Leader and was the first American to win the world judo championships.