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DuPont Minorities in Engineering Award

Nomination Open: 10/31/2024

Nomination Deadline: 02/14/2025

Established in 1979, this award is intended to recognize the importance of student diversity by ethnicity and gender in science, engineering and technology. The DuPont Minorities in Engineering Award is conferred for outstanding achievements by an engineering or engineering technology educator in increasing student diversity within engineering and engineering technology programs. It is intended that this award be given to engineering or engineering technology educators who, as part of their educational activity, either assume or are charged with the responsibility for motivating underrepresented students to enter and continue in engineering or engineering technology curricula at the college or university level, graduate or undergraduate. The Award: The award is endowed by DuPont and consists of a $1,500 honorarium, a certificate and a grant of $500 for travel expenses to the ASEE Annual Conference.  

The candidate must demonstrate leadership in the conception, organization and operation of precollege and college activities designed to increase participation of underrepresented students in engineering or engineering technology. This should be evidenced by increases in enrollment and graduation rates of underrepresented students. All engineering educators on the faculties of U.S. engineering or engineering technology colleges are eligible. In exceptional circumstances, candidates who are not engineering or engineering technology educators, but who have made extraordinary contributions to increasing student diversity within engineering or engineering technology programs through their roles in either the private or public sector, may be considered for this award.

NOMINATION FORMwww.surveymonkey.com/r/WGTT3XQ

 

Nominations are automatically transferred over for the next award cycle. If not selected, nominations can be re-submitted after one award cycle.

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DuPont Minorities in Engineering Award

Nomination Open: 10/31/2024

Nomination Deadline: 02/14/2025

2022 winner:

Virginia (Lynn) Booth Womack is from Indianapolis, Indiana. A Purdue University graduate with degrees in Industrial Engineering and Psychology, she is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in engineering education.
 
Virginia’s commitment to diversity and inclusion in academia has spanned her adult life. An advocate for student success, she served two years with an educational non-profit and 6 years as principal of a private inner-city Christian school. After 18 years of industrial engineering and production management assignments, Virginia left the automotive industry to accept the position of Minority Engineering Program (MEP) director at Purdue, using industrial engineering principles to address an engineering problem she is passionate about: closing retention and academic performance gaps between underrepresented engineering students and the total engineering cohort. Through intentional collaboration across the university, alumni, corporate sponsors and data-driven programs provided by MEP, we have seen first-year engineering retention rates improve from 63% to 95%. First-semester academic performance and graduation rates have also improved significantly, making history when the 5- and 6-year graduation rates for the 2013 underrepresented engineering student cohort exceeded the college of engineering.
 
Virginia was a founding member and the first female National Chair of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), established at Purdue University. As the first chair to serve two terms in office, NSBE gained national recognition and established a broad chapter membership base across the country. She has served as National President of the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates (NAMEPA, Inc.), an organization that has a history of best practices in K-12 initiatives and retention strategies for STEM student success. Working closely with a host of diversity organizations that make up a phenomenal ‘diversity ecosystem’. Virginia is proud to contribute to engineering diversity, and is extremely honored to receive the Dupont Minorities in Engineering Education Award.
 
Virginia is happily married to Richard Oliver Womack Jr.

Established in 1979, this award is intended to recognize the importance of student diversity by ethnicity and gender in science, engineering and technology. The DuPont Minorities in Engineering Award is conferred for outstanding achievements by an engineering or engineering technology educator in increasing student diversity within engineering and engineering technology programs. It is intended that this award be given to engineering or engineering technology educators who, as part of their educational activity, either assume or are charged with the responsibility for motivating underrepresented students to enter and continue in engineering or engineering technology curricula at the college or university level, graduate or undergraduate. The Award: The award is endowed by DuPont and consists of a $1,500 honorarium, a certificate and a grant of $500 for travel expenses to the ASEE Annual Conference.  

The candidate must demonstrate leadership in the conception, organization and operation of precollege and college activities designed to increase participation of underrepresented students in engineering or engineering technology. This should be evidenced by increases in enrollment and graduation rates of underrepresented students. All engineering educators on the faculties of U.S. engineering or engineering technology colleges are eligible. In exceptional circumstances, candidates who are not engineering or engineering technology educators, but who have made extraordinary contributions to increasing student diversity within engineering or engineering technology programs through their roles in either the private or public sector, may be considered for this award.

NOMINATION FORMwww.surveymonkey.com/r/WGTT3XQ

 

Nominations are automatically transferred over for the next award cycle. If not selected, nominations can be re-submitted after one award cycle.

Showing 1 - 10 of 37 results

Year Winner Name
2021 Angelo Perna
2020 Ivan Favila
2019 Sylvanus N. Wosu
2017 Salil Desai
2016 Bruce A Lindvall
2015 Helene Finger
2014 Stephanie Luster-Teasley
2012 Carolyn A Vallas
2011 Richard A. Tapia
2009 Brenda G. Hart

DuPont Minorities in Engineering Award

2022 winner:

Virginia Booth Womack

Virginia (Lynn) Booth Womack is from Indianapolis, Indiana. A Purdue University graduate with degrees in Industrial Engineering and Psychology, she is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in engineering education.
 
Virginia’s commitment to diversity and inclusion in academia has spanned her adult life. An advocate for student success, she served two years with an educational non-profit and 6 years as principal of a private inner-city Christian school. After 18 years of industrial engineering and production management assignments, Virginia left the automotive industry to accept the position of Minority Engineering Program (MEP) director at Purdue, using industrial engineering principles to address an engineering problem she is passionate about: closing retention and academic performance gaps between underrepresented engineering students and the total engineering cohort. Through intentional collaboration across the university, alumni, corporate sponsors and data-driven programs provided by MEP, we have seen first-year engineering retention rates improve from 63% to 95%. First-semester academic performance and graduation rates have also improved significantly, making history when the 5- and 6-year graduation rates for the 2013 underrepresented engineering student cohort exceeded the college of engineering.
 
Virginia was a founding member and the first female National Chair of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), established at Purdue University. As the first chair to serve two terms in office, NSBE gained national recognition and established a broad chapter membership base across the country. She has served as National President of the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates (NAMEPA, Inc.), an organization that has a history of best practices in K-12 initiatives and retention strategies for STEM student success. Working closely with a host of diversity organizations that make up a phenomenal ‘diversity ecosystem’. Virginia is proud to contribute to engineering diversity, and is extremely honored to receive the Dupont Minorities in Engineering Education Award.
 
Virginia is happily married to Richard Oliver Womack Jr.

Past Winners

Showing 1 - 10 of 37 results
Year Winner Name
2021 Angelo Perna
2020 Ivan Favila
2019 Sylvanus N. Wosu
2017 Salil Desai
2016 Bruce A Lindvall
2015 Helene Finger
2014 Stephanie Luster-Teasley
2012 Carolyn A Vallas
2011 Richard A. Tapia
2009 Brenda G. Hart