2026 40 Under 40 Honoree: Natalie McGuier (38)
“It has been said by many people in different ways, but I'm just trying to leave the world a bit better than how I found it.”
PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA
Natalie McGuier
Carnegie Mellon University Professor and Director of the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Sciences
Natalie McGuier wears many hats. Whether it’s in her role as an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon, the director of the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Sciences or as a faculty advisor for the Neuroscience Student Advisory Council, her career is defined by pedagogical innovation that directly supports STEM education.
As only the fourth program director of the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Sciences since its founding in 1982, McGuire is also the steward of a 44-year legacy that forms a critical pillar of the state’s intellectual infrastructure, ensuring that students from rural and underrepresented backgrounds have access to elite, no-cost STEM training at CMU.
McGuier’s motivation as an educator comes back to her students — she approaches her role with the mindset that she is helping to develop future colleagues, primed to attack difficult scientific problems with professionalism and poise.
Whether the student plans for a career in STEM or not, McGuier celebrates their successes, big and small.
