Anti-Racism Practice in Engineering: Exploring, Learning & Solutions (ARPELS)
The IEC’s Anti-Racist Practice in Engineering Workshop sessions will feature a panel of administrators and leaders that will discuss changes during their tenure and identify impacts, barriers, and transformations.
Day one will be a panel session with open Q&A. The panelists will give their insights on the below questions during their tenure: What has been transformational What are the biggest barriers What has had a large impact What are the biggest challenges they face now and previously What are the outcomes
Day Two will be a working session in small groups to generate ideas about implementing what was learned during the Day One panel session. (Please note that our panelists are welcome, but not required, to join day two).
Workshop Moderator
Delia Saenz
Chief Diversity Officer
for The College
Arizona State University
Workshop Panelists
Stephanie Adams
Dean, Jonsson School of Engineering &
Computer Science
The University of Texas at Dallas
Dean and Lars Magnus Ericsson Chair of Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Texas, Dallas and Past President of the American Society of Engineering Education.
Dr. Stephanie G. Adams is the 5th Dean of the Eric Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Texas, Dallas and Past President of the American Society of Engineering Education. Previously Dr. Adams served as the Dean of the Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology at Old Dominion University (2016–2019), Department Head and Professor of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech (2011–2016) and held faculty and administrative positions at Virginia Commonwealth University (2008–2011) and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1998–2008).
Her research interests include: Broadening Participation, Faculty and Graduate Student Development, International/Global Education, Teamwork and Team Effectiveness, and Quality Control and Management. In 2003, she received the CAREER award from the Engineering Education and Centers Division of the National Science Foundation. Dr. Adams is a leader in the advancement and inclusion of all in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. She has worked with a number of colleges and universities, government agencies and non-profit organizations on topics related to graduate education, mentoring, faculty development and diversifying STEM.
Dr. Adams is an honor graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, where she earned her BS in Mechanical Engineering, in 1988. In 1991, she was awarded the Master of Engineering degree in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia. She received her Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1998, where she concentrated on Industrial Engineering and Management.
Karen Butler-Purry
Associate Provost for Graduate and
Professional Studies
Texas A&M University
Dr. Karen Butler-Purry is the Associate Provost and Dean for the Graduate and Professional School at Texas A&M University, a position she has held since 2010. In addition, she is a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering, having served at all faculty levels, beginning with an appointment as visiting assistant professor of electrical engineering in 1994.
Dr. Butler-Purry has vast experiences in graduate education as a faculty member, administrator, researcher, and program leader. She served as Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs in the College of Engineering 2001-2004, and as Associate Department Head in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department 2008-2010. Further, she has directed several fellowship and education projects promoting recruitment, retention and advancement of graduate students in STEM fields. Additionally, she has served in many capacities on committees for the college, university, and professional societies.
Dr. Butler-Purry developed a successful research program with funding from federal agencies such as NSF and ONR, and industry funding from electric utility companies. She has supervised and funded more than 40 graduate and 65 undergraduate research students.
Christine Grant
Program Director
National Science Foundation
Professor Grant obtained her degrees in Chemical Engineering from Brown University (Sc.B.) and Georgia Institute of Technology (M.S. and Ph.D.). A Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular engineering at NC State for over 31 years, she’s conducted research in surface and interfacial science; advising postdocs and students ranging from the high school to the graduate student level. As the inaugural Associate Dean of Faculty Advancement in the NC State College of Engineering, for over 12 years she’s been responsible for faculty development, special initiatives and promotion and tenure for the college. Grant is currently on an IPA assignment as a Program Director in the Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) Division in the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) at NSF. She currently manages the Broadening Participation in the Engineering (BPE) program.
In addition to her BPE portfolio, she also interfaces with NSF-wide broadening participation initiatives that include: HBCU-EIR, ADVANCE and INCLUDES. She is the recent President-elect of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), a global organization of 60,000+ members in 110 countries. A Life Member of AIChE, SWE, AISES, she’s an AIChE Fellow. From 2004-2005 she was a Boeing Senior Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering’s Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education (CASEE). A recipient of the AAAS Mentor Award and the NSF Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM); Grant's been recognized for broadening the participation, promotion and retention of underrepresented minorities (URM) and women in STEM with awards from the: American Chemical Society, Council for Chemical Research, National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE), and WEPAN.
She has been a Visiting Senior Scholar at AAAS and a Grant Expert at NSF. A change agent, she has been active as a PI on multiple NSF ADVANCE grants and served on the advisory board or consulted with several ADVANCE schools including Texas A&M, Cornell, Lehigh, U of New Hampshire and the University of Cincinnati promoting institutional transformation in STEM fields. She has been a speaker at numerous NSF AGEP and MRSEC programs. She’s received over $5 million in NSF funding in the REU, ADVANCE, CBET, and GOALI programs. In the BPE realm, she has co-edited the book, “Success Strategies from Women in STEM: A Portable Mentor” by Elsevier/Academic Press and contributed chapters to “Growing Diverse STEM Communities: Methodologies, Impact and Evidence” (2019) and “Overcoming Barriers for Women of Color in STEM Fields” (2020).
Mark Smith
Dean, Graduate School
Senior Vice Provost, Academic Affairs
The University of Texas at Austin
Smith received his B.S. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Georgia Tech in electrical engineering. He started his academic career in 1985 at Georgia Tech as a faculty member in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), where he remained for the next 18 years. In January 2003, he joined Purdue University as head of the School of ECE, and six years later was appointed dean of the Purdue University Graduate School. In August 2017, he joined The University of Texas at Austin as senior vice provost for academic affairs and dean of the Graduate School.
Renetta Garrison Tull
Vice Chancellor of Diversity,
Equity & Inclusion
University of California, Davis
Before joining UC Davis in 2019, Dr. Tull was Associate Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), and Professor of the Practice in UMBC’s College of Engineering and IT (COEIT). Within COEIT, she served as part of the “Engagement” team, and pursues research in humanitarian engineering. Tull is Founding Director and Co-PI for the 12-institution National Science Foundation University System of Maryland’s (USM) PROMISE AGEP, and Co-Director/Co-PI for the NSF USM’s Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP).
In addition to roles at UMBC and roles with grants, she also served the University System of Maryland as Special Assistant to the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Student Affairs, and was the system’s Director of Graduate & Professional Pipeline Development. In 2017, Dr. Tull was appointed to serve as Chair for the University System of Maryland’s Health Care Workforce Diversity subgroup. Dr. Tull has engineering and science degrees from Howard University and Northwestern University.
An international speaker on global diversity in STEM, Tull has led discussions around the world on topics such as “Inclusive Engagement – Engineering for All,” “Cultivating Inclusive Excellence within Science, Engineering, and Technology,” work/life balance, family, and prevention of domestic and work-place abuse. She co-led Puerto Rico’s ADVANCE Hispanic Women in STEM project, and continues to lead the “Women in STEM Forum” for the Latin and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions (LACCEI) and the Engineering for the Americas/Organization of American States as LACCEI’s current Vice President for Initiatives.
tiatives. Recognitions include: 2015 O’Reilly Media “Women in Data” cover, 2015 Global Engineering Deans Council/Airbus Diversity Award Finalist, and the 2016 ABET Claire L. Felbinger Award for Diversity. She has been an invited plenary panelist for diversity in engineering initiatives for the 2016 International Conference on Transformations in Engineering Education in India, and an invited speaker for the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES) “Global Engagement in Diversity” webinar. She was also part of an invited United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) team for the “Engineering Report II” meeting in Beijing in September 2017, hosted by the Chinese Academy of Engineering. In 2017, she was appointed to a 2-year term for the National Academies for Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s committee on The Science of Effective Mentoring in Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine, and Mathematics (STEMM). In 2018, she was invited back to the United Nations Headquarters to talk about women in engineering as part of a UNESCO-sponsored side event during the 62nd Session on the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women.
Tull has more than 50 publications, has given more than 200 presentations on various STEM topics, and is a Tau Beta Pi “Eminent Engineer.” She also engages the public on topics related to STEM and society, and was a speaker for “Diversity, STEAM, and Comics,” where “A” adds the “arts” to STEM, at Awesome Con in March 2018. She is a passionate advocate, global mentor, education policy strategist and champion for equity in STEM.
Pre-Workshop Requirements for the May Training
In preparation for this workshop, please complete the following items:
Required Reading
Watch Video
Ibram X. Kendi lecture & discussion on How to be an Anti-Racist