Lizanne DeStefano received her Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in 1986.  Dr. DeStefano is a former special education teacher, and trained and practiced as a clinical and school psychologist. She received her B.S. in Physiological Psychology and Statistics, her M.Ed. in Special Education.

Currently, Dr. DeStefano is the director of the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC). She is also Professor of Psychology, and serves as Associate Dean in the College of Sciences at Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research interests include the evaluation and sustainability of innovative STEM, as well as other, educational programs; multi-site initiatives; and programs serving special populations, such as students with disabilities or those at risk for academic failure.

Her work has been funded by numerous agencies and foundations, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health; and the U.S. Department of Education. In addition to serving as evaluator for The Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, Dr. DeStefano  serves as Co-PI for Knowledge Transfer in the NSF-funded Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems Science and Technology Center. She serves as evaluator for numerous other NSF-funded projects, including XSEDE (Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment); Blue Waters Community Outreach (UIUC), and the Center for Brains, Minds and Machines (MIT).