The SBE Advisory Committee meets twice yearly to provide advice, recommendations, and oversight to the NSF's SBE Directorate concerning support for research, education, and human resources. Members represent a cross section of social, behavioral, and economic sciences and many different sub-disciplines within these fields, including industry. In addition, the committee is diverse in terms of gender, geographic locations, and under-represented minorities.

As a member of the SBE Advisory Committee, Pearson's duties include:

• Reviewing and advising on the impact of programs in the disciplines and fields encompassed by the NSF's SBE Directorate
• Providing oversight of overall program management and performance
• Advising as to the impact of overally NSF-wide policies on the SBE scientific community

Throughout his career, Pearson has received research grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Endowment for the Humanities, Sloan Foundation, and the Department of Justice. In addition to these accomplishments, he has won several awards, such as the Southern Illinois University’s College of Liberal Arts Alumni Achievement Award (1993). He was designated a lifetime National Associate of the National Academies in 2001. Two of his most recent publications include Changing the Face of Engineering: The African American Experience and Advancing Women in Science: An International Perspective, both explorations of the unequal landscape of the science and engineering fields.

HSOC is a unit of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.