Engineering Professor Pamela McCauley Receives the BEYA STEM Educational Leadership Award
Orlando, FL (PRWEB) November 25, 2014 -- "Your award comes at a time particularly critical for the United States. Statistics show that science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) enrollments are declining in our country exactly at the moment when our global economy is driving up demand for STEM professionals. The future of America rests in the sharing of your narrative with our nation's youth," wrote BEYA Conference and Career Communications Group Chairman and CEO Dr. Tyrone Taborn in the award letter to Dr. McCauley.
Dr. McCauley is a full professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems at the University of Central Florida where she leads the Human Factors in Disaster Management Research Team. She previously held the position of Martin Luther King, Jr. Visiting Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In support of Dr. McCauley's Educational Leadership Award nomination, Tuskegee University's Dr. Shaik Jeelani, Vice President for Research and Sponsored Programs and the Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering wrote,"Dr. McCauley's interactive teaching prepares her students to immediately be productive engineering professionals. I applaud her efforts to consistently impact the lives of engineering students and young professionals, in particular females and underrepresented minorities, as a mentor and role model."
Dr. McCauley is among the highest producing faculty of female and under represented minority PhD candidates in the College of Science and Computer Engineering at UCF with over 75% of her undergraduate research team students going on to pursue graduate degrees in Engineering. In her classroom and across the nation through her keynote addresses, Dr. McCauley fires up and empowers students and professionals of all ages to pursue STEM educational paths and successful STEM careers. She unravels the myths around who “should and could” be an excellent STEM Professional in light of or “in spite of” current personal or disadvantaged situations. She explains why STEM careers are a realistic, exciting and lucrative choice and, through data and supporting research, demonstrates why STEM education is critically important to the health of communities, corporations and to national and global economies.
University of Central Florida College of Engineering and Computer Sciences Dean Michael Georgiopoulos stated; "Dr. McCauley’s work in engineering leadership, especially as directed toward enhancing STEM education is most noteworthy. She has helped lead very important efforts supported by the National Science Foundation to organize workshops to review pedagogical practices in engineering leadership education. Her leadership is a testament to her contributions in the field of industrial engineering and reflects the high esteem with which her peers regard her service," in his letter of support for the highly competitive award.
In addition to being a professor and a nationally renowned speaker, Dr. McCauley is an author whose widely used textbook; Ergonomics: Foundational Principles, Applications and Technologies, will soon be published in Simplified Chinese by the National Defense Industry Press. Her most recent book, Transforming Your STEM Career Through Leadership and Innovation: Inspiration and Strategies for Women, examines the growing need for leadership and innovation in America, particularly among women and STEM professionals and is the basis for her talks on leadership and diversity all over the world.
"We are proud that Dr. McCauley received her BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Oklahoma. She is the consummate example of a person overcoming hardships and challenges to achieve a desired goal. The OU College of Engineering has surpassed national norms for gender equity in our student enrollment due in large part to successful women engineer graduates and leaders like Dr. McCauley," stated University of Oklahoma's Dean Tom Landers.
The Educational Leadership College-Level Promotion of Education Award will be presented to Dr. McCauley at the BEYA STEM Global Competitiveness Conference in Washington DC, February 3 - 5, 2015.
Dr. McCauley is President and CEO of TSTEM, Inc., which.spearheads national STEM education, leadership, diversity and innovation initiatives in coordination with universities, corporations and institutions. She oversees ergonomics and biomechanics focused technical support services and technical product development as well as Expert Witnessing in the areas of product liability, biomechanics, ergonomics, human engineering, and occupational safety.
Liza Lee, TSTEM Inc., http://transformingyourstemcareer.com/, +1 (312) 927-2422, [email protected]
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