Andrew Bramante

Andrew Bramante is honored in recognition of his commitment to the education of students through his teaching and as director of Greenwich High School’s Independent Science Research program since 2006.  His students consistently win some of the highest state, national, and international prizes awarded for science-related research at the high school level, including two Google Science Fair Finalists, one Google Science Fair winner, and 37 Regeneron/Intel STS finalists/Scholars. And, this year Mr. Bramante has extended his teaching to include middle school students interested in science research.

More than 49 of his Greenwich High School students have competed in the annual International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), winning eight First Place awards, five Best of Category Awards, and four Grand Prize Awards. His students are frequently the top winners of the CT Science and Engineering Fair and CT Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, with those students receiving top awards from the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, including the H. Joseph Gerber Medals of Excellence.

Bramante has a BS and MS in Chemistry from Fordham University. Prior to teaching, Bramante worked in industry for 15 years including Hitachi Instruments and PerkinElmer Instruments. In 2003 he met Ray Hamilton, a Greenwich High Science Research Teacher, at a local American Chemical Society event. Bramante offered to help with Hamilton’s instrumentation needs, which Ray accepted, and from that experience, his life changed. He obtained his teaching certificate in 2005, began teaching at Greenwich the same year, and a year later Hamilton retired, and Bramante became the science research teacher. Key to his success are high expectations for his students and an incredible work ethic. His students know he is available as needed, including opening his lab and classroom during out-of-school time. If students know he is in the building, word gets around – even at 8:00 am on a Saturday morning – and the lab fills.

Andy’s work with his students was profiled in “The Class”, a book by Heather Won Tesoriero, who shadowed Bramante for a year.