NSTA mourns the loss of its 2013–2014 President. William Daniel (Bill) Badders, 76, of Cleveland, Ohio, passed away on March 5, 2025. His presidential theme was “Building and Sustaining Teacher Leadership in Science, Standards, and Literacy.” Before he was elected as NSTA President, Badders devoted many years of service to the association, including holding the office of division director on NSTA’s Board of Directors and serving as District X Director in the late 1990s, representing Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.

Badders was active on NSTA committees, panels, and task forces dating back to the early 1990s, including the Task Force on the Search and Identification of Exemplary Restructured Science Education Programs, the Committee on Professional Development (2000–2003), the Committee on Budget and Finance (2003–2006), and the Committee on Coordination and Supervision of Science Teaching (2007–2010). He was a member of the Science and Children Review Panel and the Nominations and Audit Committees and lent his expertise to convention planning committees throughout the years. He also was a judge for the Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision program and NSTA New Science Teacher Academy (2008–2011). He presented numerous sessions at NSTA national and area conferences. 

A graduate of Rice Avenue Union High School in Girard, Pennsylvania, Badders earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania, in 1971 and a master’s degree in education from Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1974. Starting in 1971, he spent more than 40 years as an educator in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), serving as an elementary and middle school teacher, science resource specialist, and director and principal investigator of the Cleveland Math and Science Partnership. In addition to successfully winning multiple federal, state, and local grants to support teaching and learning in Cleveland, Badders also established and led a curriculum implementation center for the Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) Program within the CMSD, as a vehicle for promoting teachers’ abilities to present inquiry-based science in their classrooms.

Badders was a leader in science education, co-authoring a major science textbook and reaching students and teachers nationally and internationally via speaking engagements in Japan, Israel, the United Kingdom, and other countries. He also was active in many other professional organizations, serving as president and treasurer of the Cleveland Regional Council of Science Teachers (CRCST) and on the board of directors of the Science Education Council of Ohio (SECO) as an elected district representative. He served on many national and regional advisory panels for the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), the National Research Council (NRC). and the National Science Foundation (NSF). 
Throughout his career, Badders received awards for his contributions to science education, including a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching for elementary science teaching in Ohio in 1992. He served as president of the Society of Elementary Presidential Awardees from 1996 to 1997. In 2000, he was a Fulbright Memorial Teacher Fund recipient.

Badders is survived by his wife, Sue, three children, and six grandchildren, as well as by his siblings, David and Christine Badders, and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.

The mission of NSTA is to transform science education to benefit all through professional learning, partnerships, and advocacy.