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Esteemed Speaker

Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire

Director Emerita, Center for Academic Success Professor Emerita of Chemistry & (Ret) Assistant Vice Chancellor

  • Louisiana State University

Full Bio


Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire is an internationally recognized chemical educator, author and lecturer who has travelled the globe promoting sure-fire strategies to help students to be successful in their coursework and careers. She has delivered keynote addresses or presented workshops to audiences at over 500 institutions in 48 states, 14 countries, and on six continents.

McGuire is currently Director Emerita of the Center for Academic Success and Professor Emerita of Chemistry at Louisiana State University. Prior to joining LSU, she spent eleven years at Cornell University, where she received the coveted Clark Distinguished Teaching Award. She is the author of the best-selling books Teach Students How to Learn and Teach Yourself How to Learn.

McGuire’s most recent accolades include receiving a 2024 HerStory Award from the Women’s Federation for World Peace, being named the 2024 Mentor on the Map by the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers, being listed in 2023 as one of the Top 100 Learning Influencers in history by Eduflow, being named a 2022 Louisiana Legend by Louisiana Public Broadcasting, and induction in 2017 into the LSU College of Science Hall of Distinction. She is an elected Fellow of the American Chemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Council of Learning Assistance and Developmental Education Associations. She received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring in a White House Oval Office Ceremony.

Dr. McGuire received her B.S. degree, magna cum laude, from Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA, her master’s degree from Cornell University, and her Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where she received the Chancellors Citation for Extraordinary Professional Promise.