Our Commitment

Letter from the Dean

Engineering is all about solving problems. And the challenges confronting us are daunting indeed. Climate change, aging infrastructure, rampant pollution, insidious threats to cyber security, global hunger, deadly pandemics—to name just a few.

Many threaten our very existence.

We cannot hope to adequately address these problems when we exclude the unique talents, differing perspectives, and creative solutions that could be offered by the women and persons of color who remain so under-represented in science, technology, engineering, and math in our nation.

Hence, diversifying our disciplines is an imperative.

As dean of the Hajim School, I am committed to:

  • increasing the diversity of our students, staff, and faculty;
  • creating policies, programs, and opportunities to ensure that women and those traditionally underrepresented in engineering are treated equitably;
  • and, above all, supporting everyone with a spirit of genuine inclusivity.

We have reached some gratifying benchmarks. Our Department of Biomedical Engineering, for example, has achieved gender equity not only among its faculty but its undergraduates. Our Department of Computer Science is now well above national averages for percentage of women undergraduates. And all of our departments have established Diversity and Equity committees consisting of faculty members, staff, students, and alumni working together to help us achieve our goals.

During the last two years, as part of our Celebration 2020 and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion observances, we have profiled 51 of our faculty, staff, and alumni. These are noteworthy women and underrepresented minorities, primarily, who serve as outstanding role models or have contributed greatly to our efforts. We have done so not only to celebrate their achievements, but to remind us of what we continue to forfeit as long this underrepresentation persists in our school and in STEM fields in general. We are proud to present these role models below.

We have much work to do. I urge all members of our Hajim community, in the spirit of Meliora, to join me in this all-important quest.

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
November 24, 2021