Change Agents
Engineers are problem solvers—and our country has no shortage of problems to solve. COVID-19 and racial injustice are just two of the urgent issues that reach into every aspect of society, including higher education. So the recent trend of colleges and universities elevating engineering educators to top leadership positions should come as welcome reassurance. Our feature package by Lucy Birmingham and Mary Lord highlights some of the innovators who now occupy presidents’ and provosts’ offices. As University of Maryland–College Park’s Darryll Pines, one of the three African American former engineering deans installed as higher-ed presidents this past summer, puts it, “The level of complexity that we’re in lends itself to tools that we use in engineering to solve problems and come up with solutions.” Beyond distinguished careers as educators, researchers, and administrators, Pines and his fellow new presidents Gilda Barabino (Olin College) and Gregory Washington (George Mason University) bring to their roles a history of service to ASEE. As part of the Engineering Deans Council’s K–12 STEM Committee, Pines led the successful multi-university push to develop an Advanced Placement-style engineering course. Engineering 4 Us All is currently being piloted in high schools nationwide. Barabino served on both this magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board and the ASEE Board of Directors, succeeding Gregory Washington on the latter. And as chair of ASEE’s Engineering Deans Council, Washington led the creation of the Society’s Diversity Recognition Program, which spotlights institutions that make significant, measurable progress in increasing diversity, inclusion, and degree attainment. The provosts spotlighted in our second feature also have dedicated time and focus to the Society. For example, Dartmouth’s Joseph Helble advocated for international students in the Engineering Deans Council’s Public Policy Committee long before most schools understood the implications of the administration’s travel ban. This month’s Databytes also highlights the rise of engineering educators—particularly women—to university leadership. Interestingly, while the percentages remain low for women as engineering department heads and chairs (13 percent last year), women are achieving parity at the provost level, and surpassing men at the vice provost level (56 percent). The engineering backgrounds and increasing diversity of individuals in university leadership positions can only benefit the country. At a National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering panel last month, moderator Gary May, Georgia Tech’s former engineering dean who became University of California–Davis’s first Black chancellor in 2017, noted, “We are in a position of leadership that allows us . . . to be unapologetic champions for diversity.” As we all navigate these challenging times, ASEE will continue to provide resources to help. Don’t miss our new online course catalog, with options such as Replacing Implicit Bias: Recognize, Reconsider, and Respond and Emerging Insights on Navigating Remote Instruction (https://resources.asee.org/course-catalog). We hope you enjoy the October Prism and welcome your comments.
Eva Miller
e.miller@asee.org