Laura Overdeck (née Bilodeau) is an American education reformer, author and movie producer. Overdeck is the founder and president of the

Bedtime Math Bedtime Math is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit organization focused on mathematics education for young children, launched by Laura Overdeck in February 2012. History Bedtime Math was founded in February 2012, initially as a website. In Ma ...

Foundation, a nonprofit that helps parents teach their kids math in fun, recreational ways through a free app. She also authored a book series entitled ''Bedtime Math'' published by MacMillan. Overdeck is the producer of the movie ''Rule Breakers,'' the inspiring story of the first all-girls robotics team in Afghanistan. In her role on the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund, she launched the New Jersey Tutoring Corps to address learning loss during the COVID pandemic. The Tutoring Corps continues to function today as a standalone nonprofit operating statewide at 80 sites.

Early life and education

Overdeck is the daughter of Emily and Gilbert R. Bilodeau of

Westfield, New Jersey Westfield is a Town (New Jersey), town in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 31,032, an increase of 716 (+2.4% ...

. She graduated from Westfield High School in 1987, where she was valedictorian of her class. She was also selected for and participated in the New Jersey Governor's School in the Sciences. Overdeck went on to earn a bachelor's degree in astrophysical sciences from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. She also holds a master's degree in business administration from the

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

, and an honorary doctorate in engineering from

Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a Private university, private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely de ...

Career

After completing her education, Overdeck held positions at D.E. Shaw & Co. and at

Stanford Research Institute SRI International (SRI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit scientific research, scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California, United States. It was established in 1946 by trustees of Stanford Univer ...

. Overdeck founded the nonprofit Bedtime Math in 2012, sending out playful nightly math posts for children to solve with their parents. The blog received early critical acclaim, and the following year she published ''Bedtime Math: A Fun Excuse to Stay Up Late'', her first of four books with Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. In 2021, she received Mathical Honors for ''Bedtime Math: This Time It’s Personal''. Subsequently, the Bedtime Math team created an app version of the offering;

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

researchers found that app usage increased children's math skills by an extra three months in one school year, publishing the results in ''Science''. Overdeck has published opinion pieces on children's math education in

TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

, the

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

, and

Quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

. Overdeck serves as a trustee at Princeton University and is vice chair of the board of trustees at the

Liberty Science Center Liberty Science Center is an interactive science museum and learning center located in Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, Jersey City, New Jersey, United States. At its opening, it was the largest such planetarium in the Western H ...

in New Jersey. She also serves on the advisory boards of the Johns Hopkins

Center for Talented Youth The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) is a gifted education program for school-age children founded in 1979 by psychologist Julian Stanley at Johns Hopkins University. It was established as a research study into how academically ad ...

and

Khan Academy Khan Academy is an American non-profit educational organization created in 2006 by Sal Khan. Its goal is to create a set of online tools that help educate students. The organization produces short video lessons. Its website also includes suppl ...

Awards

Overdeck was named Educator of the Year by the New Jersey R & D Council in 2017. In 2019 she was the commencement speaker at

, where she also received an honorary doctorate.

Philanthropy

In 2011, Overdeck and her husband established the Overdeck Family Foundation, an organization that funds educational research and

STEM education Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word responsib ...

. The foundation's overall goal is to enable all American children to unlock their potential by strengthening learning in and out of school. The Overdecks’ education philanthropy focuses on four key issue areas: “early impact,” “exceptional educators,” “innovative schools,” and “inspired minds.” They have made gifts to

Robin Hood Foundation The Robin Hood Foundation is a charitable organization which attempts to alleviate problems caused by poverty in New York City. The organization also administers a relief fund for disasters in the New York City area. In 2010, a key supporter gave ...

for work by

MDRC MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization based in New York City; Washington, DC; and Oakland and Los Angeles, California. MDRC conducts rigorous studies of programs and policies that affect people with low ...

to study the long-term effects of various early childhood programs. The Overdecks have also supported the

Harlem Children's Zone The Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) is a nonprofit organization for children and families living in Harlem, providing free support in the form of parenting workshops, a preschool program, three charter schools, and child-oriented health programs f ...

with its early impact strategy and the

. Other grantees have included the NJ STEM Teaching Fellowship, and Governor's School for the Sciences at

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey, United States. It has a wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three schools. While affiliated with the Methodism, Me ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. Overdeck is an alumna of Governor's School and was instrumental in saving the program through private donations in 2006. In October 2018, The Overdeck Education Innovation Fund gifted $1 million to be distributed over the next three years by the

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (''abbrev.'' SPIA; formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of c ...

for research on education issues. This is the second gift from the Overdeck Family Foundation, the first of which was $1 million donated in 2016. That same month, the Overdeck Family Foundation pledged $3 million to Opportunity Insights, a policy and research institute based at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

that will publish data on the probability that children will escape poverty based on where they were raised. In early 2024, Overdeck co-founded Wake Up Call NJ with former Deputy Commissioner of the

New Jersey Department of Education The New Jersey Department of Education (NJ DOE) administers state and federal aid programs affecting more than 1.4 million public and non-public elementary and secondary school children in the state of New Jersey. The department is headquartered ...

, Peter Shulman.

Personal life

On October 12, 2002, Overdeck married John Overdeck, co-founder of

Two Sigma Investments Two Sigma Investments, LP is an American hedge fund headquartered in New York City. It uses a variety of technological methods, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and distributed computing, for its trading strategies. The fir ...

. They live in

Millburn, New Jersey Millburn is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in southwestern Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, within the U.S. state of New Jersey, and part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's ...

, and have three children. They started divorce proceedings in early 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Overdeck, Laura 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American writers American bloggers American women bloggers American women philanthropists D. E. Shaw & Co. people Living people Mathematics writers People from Westfield, New Jersey Philanthropists from New Jersey Princeton University alumni SRI International people Westfield High School (New Jersey) alumni Wharton School alumni Writers from Millburn, New Jersey Writers from Union County, New Jersey Year of birth missing (living people)