The now ubiquitous acronym used to collectively refer to the related topics of science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is commonly believed to have been first
coined by Dr. Judith Ramaley during her tenure as Director of the Education and Human
Resources directorate of the National Science Foundation from 2001-2004. At the time, the NSF
was seeking a way to call increasing attention to the full range of subjects necessary for
educating a scientifically literate society, and to better organize their own portfolio of