From the Dean: March 2018

Dear Purdue Engineering Community,

This month we will officially name the Leah H. Jamieson Directorship of the Women in Engineering program, in honor of my predecessor and in celebration of the nation’s first program dedicated to women in engineering. Last week, we launched the Lillian Gilbreth Fellowship, which invites the best and brightest postdoctoral researchers in the world to Purdue Engineering. It is named after the legendary Lillian Gilbreth, the “mother of modern industrial engineering” and the first woman engineering faculty at Purdue. Now we have 82 women faculty colleagues in our College, and based on the recent conversation with many of them, a set of initiatives will be announced from the office of the Senior Associate Dean of the Faculty soon. We also have over 2200 female students among the undergraduates in the College, including a Marshall Scholar and some star athletes such as Dominique Oden, a Civil Engineering sophomore on the women’s basketball team. We thank many in the Boilermaker family who supported these students. On the Purdue Day of Giving next month, I will also donate a gift to fund a scholarship for women engineering students who are first-generation college students from the state of Indiana.

As mentioned in my message last month, the College is going through a short, inclusive and impactful process to gather input from all of you as we explore long-term aspiration and near-term actions. The leadership team is looking forward to candid feedback and creative ideas from you, which can be provided through an anonymous suggestion box online. I have also asked Professor Kathleen Howell and Professor Mark Lundstrom to coordinate open forums and targeted faculty working groups. You can find the details, including the link to the anonymous suggestion box, from the following website: Renew, Aspire, Steps Forward.

Thank you.

Mung

Mung Chiang
John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering
Purdue University