Call For Mentors, Information, & Nominees

Gleanings from my inbox, in lieu of something creative...I've had a stinking migraine every stinking day for the past week...Be sure to check out the info on the DuPont award - they've been handing it out since 1956. I know I just posted a previous entry maligning the awarding of prizes in general...but if you are going to hand out prizes, this seems as good a reason to do so as any I can think of. If our esteemed leaders in the scientific and engineering community could muster one-tenth the amount of enthusiasm for winning awards of this type as they do for the Nobel variety, we'd all be working in a much more pleasant environment.

MentorNet Needs Mentors!

From a MentorNet announcement:

E-mentoring opportunity - Mentors urgently needed!

The MentorNet One-on-One Mentoring Programs are a chance to make a big difference in the life of a student in as little as 20 minutes a week. MentorNet seeks science and engineering professionals in industry and government, either currently active, on leave, or retired, to mentor engineering and science community college, undergraduate, and graduate students, particularly women and underrepresented minorities, who are interested in pursuing a professional future in the fields of engineering and science.

MentorNet also seeks tenured faculty members to mentor graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and untenured faculty pursuing faculty careers.

MentorNet currently has over 500 motivated proteges from colleges and universities from around the world seeking the advice of an e-mentor. Please join now at MentorNet.

Well over 90% of participants would recommend MentorNet's e-mentoring programs to a friend or colleague. Mentoring relationships last 8 months. Because mentors and students communicate entirely by email, they can communicate wherever and whenever they choose.

"My mentor always gives me the encouragement that I need," says one MentorNet student. "Sometimes those few words make a big difference to me."

How can you volunteer to be a mentor?

  1. Join the MentorNet Community here.
  2. Follow the One-on-One Mentoring Programs links to create a mentor profile.

MentorNet's sponsors include 3M Foundation, Alcoa Foundation, Agilent Technologies, Argonne National Laboratory, Bechtel Foundation, Cisco Systems, GE Global Research, Google, Guidant Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM Corporation, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Science Foundation, Naval Research Laboratory, NVIDIA, Sandia National Laboratories, SAP, Schlumberger , S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, Symantec, and Texas Instruments.

Request For Information

JoAnn Moody sent out this request for information for a new project on "the solo phenomenon":

Many of us have experienced the solo phenomenon: we've been one of a few women in a predominantly male department or setting or one of a few under-represented minorities in a majority setting.

In my practical monograph-in-progress, I'm focusing on steps that female and male majority colleagues, mentors, administrators, and academic departments can take to reduce the stress and complex dynamics that solos usually have to cope with.

REQUEST. If you yourself have taken some effective steps that indeed reduced the solo colleague's stress and increased his/her sense of belonging and well-being, would you share some of your experiences with me? Or if you yourself, as a solo, have appreciated steps taken on your behalf, would you correspond or talk to me?

You can remain anonymous, if you wish. And I assure you that you will be able to review what I've written about your points and change/correct/remove them, prior to publication in 2007. (By the way, at my website you will find info about the sorts of publications I write.)

Thanks, JoAnn Moody, PhD, JD, Faculty Developer; Higher Education Consultant

joann DOT moody AT earthlink DOT net

Du Pont Minorities in Engineering Award

From an announcement on the WEPAN listserve; nominate a deserving engineering or engineering technology educator today!

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.

Qualifications: 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.

Nomination: Nominations for outstanding performance (meaning successful motivation of underrepresented candidates to enter and complete engineering or engineering technology curricula) are to be submitted using the nomination form with the specified information attached. The accomplishments section should include evidence of significant growth rates of underrepresented graduates during the years of the nominee's influence.

For information on how to submit a nomination, see here

Past award winners include:

2006 Mary R. Anderson-Rowland
2005 Juan Gilbert
2004 Gary S. May
2003 Bevlee A. Watford
2002 Sara Wadia-Fascetti
2001 Robert N. Braswell
2000 Prateen V. Desai
1999 No award made
1998 Emily M. Wadsworth
1997 Karan L. Watson
1996 Su-Seng Pang
1995 William J. Wepfer
1994 Arthur J. Bond
1993 Winser E. Alexander
1992 Harold Deutschman
1991 Howard G. Adams
1990 Paul E. Parker
1989 Theodore J. Habarth
1988 Karl S. Pister
1987 Jane Z. Daniels
1986 William T. Brazelton
1985 Howard S. Kimmel
1984 Louis Padulo
1983 Marion W. Blalock
1982 Raymond B. Landis
1981 Zbigniew W. Dybezak
1980 Howard L. Wakeland
1979 F. William Schutz, Jr.
1978 Robert A. Huggins
1977 Ven Te Chow
1976 Harry Bolton Seed
1975 Aldert van derZiel
1974 James W. Westwater
1973 John R. Low, Jr.
1972 Ernst R.G. Eckert
1971 Egon Orowan
1970 Neal R. Amundson
1969 Earl R. Parker
1968 Harry G. Drickamer
1967 George W. Housner
1966 Charles S. Draper
1965 William R. Sears
1964 John Bardeen
1963 Arthur T. Ippen
1962 Roy Bainer
1961 Nathan M. Newmark
1960 Maurice J. Zucrow
1959 Robert F. Mehl
1958 Hunter Rouse
1957 Theodore von Karman
1956 Clifford C. Furnas

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