Interim Head of the School of Engineering Education
TO: Executive Vice Presidents, Chancellors, Vice President, Vice Chancellors, Vice Provosts, Deans, Directors and Heads of Schools, Divisions, Department and Offices
FROM: Leah H. Jamieson, The John A. Edwardson Dean, College of Engineering
DATE: August 15, 2016
RE: Interim Head of the School of Engineering Education
Colleagues,
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Audeen Fentiman, Crowley Family Professor of Engineering Education and Associate Dean of Engineering for Graduate Education and Interdisciplinary Programs, as Interim Head of the School of Engineering Education, effective August 15, 2016. Audeen will continue in her role as Associate Dean, dividing her time between the two offices.
In June 2015 we launched a search for the next Kamyar Haghighi Head of Engineering Education, following David Radcliffe’s announcement of his intent to step down as head at the end of the 2015-16 academic year. However, we have not yet attracted a candidate who bears all the attributes we deemed essential to lead the School of Engineering Education at Purdue and to continue Purdue’s role as a national and global leader in the field of engineering education research. We are therefore continuing the search. Audeen has graciously agreed to serve as Interim Head.
Audeen Fentiman has served as Associate Dean of Engineering for Graduate Education and Interdisciplinary Programs at Purdue for 10 years. She came to Purdue from Ohio State University, where she led a team that restructured the first year engineering program, making it hands-on, student-centered, and team oriented. During her time at Ohio State, Audeen also served as Chair of the Nuclear Engineering Program, Director of the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory, Director of the Environmental Science Graduate Program, and Associate Dean for Outreach and Special Programs. At Purdue, she was a 2010-2011 American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow and spent that year learning about higher education administration. Upon returning from the ACE Fellowship, she spent four years in the President’s Office on a half-time appointment as Purdue System Coordinator. She has served six years on the Executive Board of the GEM National Consortium as Vice President for University Strategy and Policy, and has had NSF and corporate funding to support efforts to broaden participation in engineering. In 2016 Dr. Fentiman was named the Crowley Family Professor in Engineering Education.
Dr. Fentiman holds bachelors and masters degrees in mathematics and an MS and Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering. She was a high school mathematics teacher and spent a decade in industry before accepting the faculty position at Ohio State. She is a co-author with Jim Saling of a textbook entitled Radioactive Waste Management and is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
I also take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks and congratulations to David Radcliffe, Kamyar Haghighi Head of Engineering Education and Epistemology Professor of Engineering Education, whose last day on the Purdue faculty will be August 31, 2016. David served a year as ENE Interim Head, then as the Kamyar Haghighi Head of Engineering Education for six years. He has led the School through a critical stage in its growth, marked by major successes that include landmark faculty hiring, promotions, and recognitions; maturing of programs and goals; completion of ENE’s first external review (2012); celebration of ENE’s 10th anniversary (2014); and the expansion into ENE’s first dedicated research facilities (Wang Hall third floor, 2015). Most recently, he published A Pictorial History of the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University (D.F. Radcliffe, Purdue University, 2016). He has been a thought leader in Engineering Education at Purdue, in the College of Engineering, and in the global engineering education community.
I hope you will join me in thanking Audeen for her service and wishing David all the best.