Director of Virtual Programs, SC Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics
Biography
Dr. Zaria O’Bryant earned her undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University in 1988. She worked for over 12 years at BellSouth as a Building Industry Consultant and manager. During that time, she mentored several high school students through BellSouth’s Community Relations Office and through her Sorority. .
Through her work and community service engagement, she recognized a tremendous gap in the transition from K-12 to Career. As a result, she decided to go into the education field, earning her Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of South Carolina in 2000. Over the next 12 years, her experiences in traditional public high schools allowed her to see first hand the inequities in access to information, resources and opportunities. With a passion for education as a means to social uplift, she went on to pursue her Doctoral degree in Educational Technology.
In 2010, she earned her PhD from Walden University. In 2012 she accepted a position at the SC Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics to assist in developing the Accelerate Program, “SC’s Engineering Launchpad”. She currently serves as the Director of Virtual Programs.
Dr. O’Bryant lives in Columbia, SC and enjoys spending time with her 2 adult daughters. Her hobbies include cooking, reading and traveling.