PEOPLE

Robin W. Kimmerer, Ph.D., of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) in Syracuse, is a scientist, writer, professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants (2013), which earned Dr. Kimmerer the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses (2003), earned the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing. Her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and many scientific journals. In 2022, Braiding Sweetgrass was adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith. This new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the Earth’s oldest teachers: the plants around us.

Dr. Kimmerer is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology and has taught courses in botany, ecology, ethnobotany, and indigenous environmental issues. She is also the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, whose mission is to create programs that draw on the wisdom of both indigenous and scientific knowledge for our shared goals of sustainability.

Her research interests include the role of traditional ecological knowledge in ecological restoration and the ecology of mosses. As a writer and a scientist, her interests in restoration include not only restoration of ecological communities, but also restoration of our relationships to land. In collaboration with tribal partners, she and her students have an active research program in the ecology and restoration of plants of cultural significance to Native people.

Dr. Kimmerer is active in efforts to broaden access to environmental science education for Native students, and to create new models for integration of indigenous philosophy and scientific tools on behalf of land and culture. She is engaged in programs that introduce the benefits of traditional ecological knowledge to the scientific community in a way that respects and protects indigenous knowledge.

Dr. Kimmerer is a 2022 MacArthur Fellow. She holds a B.S. in botany from SUNY ESF and an M.S. and Ph.D. in botany from the University of Wisconsin. She is the author of numerous scientific papers on plant ecology, bryophyte ecology, traditional knowledge, and restoration ecology.

Catherine Drennan, Ph.D., an MIT professor of biology and chemistry, combines X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, and other biophysical methods, with the goal of “visualizing” molecular processes by obtaining snapshots of enzymes in action.

Dr. Drennan earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Vassar College and a Ph.D. in biological chemistry at the University of Michigan. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at Caltech, she joined the MIT faculty in 1999. Her exemplary teaching and research garnered recognition as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor in 2006 and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator in 2008.

Dr. Drennan has led by example, dedicating herself to both research and teaching. Her educational initiatives include creating free resources for educators that help students recognize the underlying chemical principles in biology and medicine, and training graduate student teaching assistants and mentors to be effective teacher–scholars.

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) chose Dr. Drennan as its 2023 recipient of the William C. Rose Award for her outstanding contributions to biochemical research and commitment to training younger scientists.

She has also earned additional honors including the Everett Moore Baker Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). She has also been named an MIT Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellow, an ASBMB fellow, fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow, and a Searle Scholar. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an honorary society and independent research center.

Dina Katabi is the Thuan and Nicole Pham Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), director of the MIT Center for Wireless Networks and Mobile Computing, and a principal investigator at both the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and the Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health (Jameel Clinic). She is also a co-founder of Emerald Innovations.

At CSAIL, she conducts mobile computing, machine learning, and computer vision research while leading the NETMIT research group. Dr. Katabi is known for her contributions to wireless data transmission and for developing wireless devices that assist with digital health using AI and radio signals. These works include an in-home wireless device that continuously monitors the gait speed of patients with Parkinson’s to better track the progression of the disease, an AI model that detects Parkinson’s from individuals’ breathing patterns, and BodyCompass, a radio-frequency-based wireless device that captures sleep data without using cameras or body sensors.

Emerald Innovations is a MIT spin-off for non-invasive health monitoring. The company developed the first Wi-Fi-like box that analyzes the surrounding radio signals using neural networks, and infers people’s movements, breathing, heart rate, falls, sleep apnea, and sleep stages — all in a touchless manner. Emerald provides continuous health data and predictive analyses to doctors, researchers, and pharmaceutical and insurance companies.

Dr. Katabi earned a B.S. degree from the University of Damascus and continued her studies at MIT, where she earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in computer science. She joined MIT’s electrical engineering and computer science faculty in 2003.

Dr. Katabi is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Sciences. She is also a 2013 MacArthur Fellow. Dr. Katabi has earned the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Grace Murray Hopper Award, the Association for Computing Machinery Prize in Computing, two Test of Time Awards from the ACM’s Special Interest Group on Data Communications, and a Sloan Research Fellowship for early career scientists and scholars.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a private, nonprofit society of distinguished scholars. Each year, new members are elected by their peers in recognition of their outstanding contributions to their field of research. Together with the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, the NAS aims to “encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge, and increase public understanding in matters of science, engineering, and medicine.”

Dr. Feely joined UCD as a lecturer in 1992 and transitioned to full professor in 2009. She holds a bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering from UCD, after which she completed an M.S. and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley, she received the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award. Her Ph.D. thesis in the area of nonlinear circuits and systems won the David J. Sakrison Memorial Prize for “outstanding and innovative research.”

Dr. Feely’s leadership of innovation at UCD has overseen significant increase in space at NovaUCD, the university’s centre for new ventures and entrepreneurs, the launch of a University Bridge Fund to support early-stage companies, and the development of an AgTech Innovation Centre at UCD Lyons Farm. She also championed the advancement of women in UCD through the formation and delivery of two successive gender equality action plans that secured two Athena SWAN Bronze awards.

Dr. Feely is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Engineers Ireland, and the Irish Academy of Engineering. She is a member of the judging panels for the 2024 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering and the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, one of the largest school science fairs in the world.

Dr. Desai has published more than 250 peer-reviewed articles and patents, and her research efforts have earned recognition including Technology Review’s “Top 100 Young Innovators,” Popular Science’s Brilliant 10, and the Paul R. Dawson Award for Excellence in Patient Care Research from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy for her contributions to contemporary teaching and scholarship in biotechnology.

Prior to coming to Brown, Dr. Desai served as the Deborah Cowan Endowed Professor of the department of bioengineering and therapeutic sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (USCF), and professor in residence in the department of bioengineering at the University of California Berkeley (UCB).

She served as director of the National Institutes of Health training grant for the Joint UCSF/UCB Graduate Program in Bioengineering for more than 15 years and was founding director of the UCSF/UCB master’s program in translational medicine. She also chaired the department of bioengineering and therapeutic sciences at UCSF from 2014-2021, and served as the inaugural director of the UCSF engineering and applied sciences initiative known as HIVE (Health Innovation Via Engineering).

An advocate for education and outreach to historically underrepresented groups in STEM, Dr. Desai’s work has earned numerous honors and awards, including the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) Judith Poole Award in Mentorship.

As president of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2020-2022), she led advocacy efforts for increased scientific funding and addressed workforce disparities in science and engineering.

Dr. Desai earned a B.S. in biomedical engineering from Brown University and a Ph.D. in bioengineering jointly from UCSF and UC Berkeley. She is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE)), and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). In 2015, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine and, in 2019, to the National Academy of Inventors.

Since joining PVAMU as president, Dr. LeGrande presided over the opening ceremony of the university’s Roy G. Perry College of Engineering Classroom and Research Building. The recently completed building will provide spaces for multidisciplinary research, including 3-D manufacturing, space exploration, data analytics, artificial intelligence, robotics, and structural analysis.

Dr. LeGrande has an extensive career in higher education marked by successive leadership roles and professional achievements. Before joining PVAMU, Dr. LeGrande served as vice president for strategy, enrollment management, and student success at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she led the development and implementation of the university’s strategic plan and goals to influence national prominence, strategic partnerships, and student access and success. Other senior level leadership roles prior to Virginia Commonwealth University include vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at the University of Houston-Downtown and associate vice chancellor for enrollment management at Winston-Salem State University.

Throughout her career, Dr. LeGrande’s focus has been on advancing equity, accessibility, and affordability in higher education. She works to create and sustain engaging and supportive cultures for faculty, staff, and students resulting in positive institutional outcomes.

As a two-time graduate of HBCUs, and having earned a doctorate in higher education leadership, Dr. LeGrande understands the transformative power of education in helping students dismantle class, social, and cultural barriers. At the national level, Dr. LeGrande is actively engaged in issues of access, parity, higher education policy, and leadership development. She testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor (now Committee on Education and Workforce) in 2019 during a hearing on “Innovation to Improve Equity: Exploring High-Quality Pathways to a College Degree.”

She received the 2021 Governor’s Champion for Change Award for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The award recognizes state employees for their leadership and innovative spirit. Dr. LeGrande was also honored for her work developing VCUs Student Financial Services Center, which provided timely and accurate information to students about their finances along with financial literacy, mentorship, and counseling services.

Dr. LeGrande holds a B.S. in chemistry from Savannah State University, an M.S. in chemistry from North Carolina A&T State University, and an Ed.D. from Texas Tech University.

The ASCE established the award in 2013 to honor Margaret S. Petersen, P.E., a pioneer in hydraulics and water resources engineering. The award, which is presented to a woman who has demonstrated exemplary service to the water resources and environmental science and engineering community, is particularly meaningful to Dr. Surbeck, who had few women role models during her time as a student. As a professor at the University of Mississippi, Dr. Surbeck strives to ensure that women and other underrepresented groups are equipped to successfully take on engineering jobs and tackle some of today’s biggest challenges.

Dr. Surbeck regularly engages in real-life environmental engineering problems. Most recently, she provided her expertise on the Jackson, Mississippi, water crisis to media outlets ranging from Vice News and the Voice of America to the Clarion-Ledger, among others.

She began her career in engineering consulting and transitioned to academia almost 20 years ago. She joined the University of Mississippi department of civil engineering in 2007 serving as an associate professor and associate dean for academic affairs. She has taught and conducted research in the fields of environmental and water resources engineering.

She is a member and past president of the ACSE’s Environmental and Water Resources Institute. In 2021, she was named the Engineer of the Year of the ASCE’s Mississippi section.

Dr. Surbeck holds a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Maryland and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from the University of California, Irvine. She is a licensed professional engineer in Mississippi, a licensed civil engineer in California, and holds an envision sustainability professional (ENV SP) certificate.

Dr. Zidek’s teaching experience at FGCU focused on engineering service learning, engineering entrepreneurship, and health care engineering, where she coordinated the Introduction to the Engineering Profession course and was involved in many outreach programs at area K-12 schools.

She began her career in academia with the Milwaukee School of Engineering, first as a lecturer before serving as industrial engineering program director and associate professor.

Dr. Zidek earned a B.S in industrial engineering, an M.S. in mechanical engineering, an M.S. in industrial engineering, and an M.S. in mechanical engineering, all from Marquette University. She also holds a Ph.D. in industrial engineering with a specialization in health systems management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Zidek serves as a program evaluator for the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), which is the specialized accrediting body of college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. She previously served as a senior vice president of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), formerly the Institute of Industrial Engineers, in the area of student development, and is a past member of the IISE’s board of trustees. Additionally, she has been a member of the American Society for Engineering Education and Engineers Without Borders.

The Nancy DeLoye Fitzroy and Roland V. Fitzroy Medal, established in 2011, recognizes pioneering contributions to the frontiers of engineering that have led to a breakthrough in existing technology, or to new applications or new areas of engineering endeavor. Boyd is a renowned mechanical engineer and a widely respected champion of STEM education.

During her more than three decades at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, she was a leader in the development and operation of critical national security systems. She served on and later chaired the university’s diversity leadership council.

Boyd has spearheaded efforts in the United States and abroad to help broaden the scope of educational offerings, especially in the STEM disciplines. Because of her efforts, Boyd was nominated by President Barack Obama and received U.S. Senate confirmation to serve as a trustee to the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation in 2009. She later served on President Obama’s President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans, charged with improving educational outcomes for African Americans as a means to ensure they receive an education that prepares them for college, productive careers, and satisfying lives.

After leaving Johns Hopkins, Boyd returned to her undergraduate alma mater, Alabama State University (ASU) in 2014 to serve as its 14th and first woman president. During her three years in this role, she established ASU’s first undergraduate engineering degree program in biomedical engineering and welcomed the largest-ever first-year class.

Boyd earned a B.S. in mathematics with a double minor in physics and music from Alabama State University. She received a fellowship and was the first Black woman to earn an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Yale University. She earned both the M.Div. and D.Min. degrees from Howard University.

Since transitioning from academia, Boyd is a minister and an ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She serves on the ministerial staff of Ebenezer AME Church in Fort Washington, Maryland. She is a sought-after speaker and lecturer focusing on topics including STEM, higher education, historically Black colleges and universities, leadership development, and non-profit board development. She continues to mentor young people interested in careers in science and engineering.

The award was one of three presented to women whose work, research, and leadership supports and elevates women in the workplace and community.

Dr. Stuart’s time at Marquette over the last 23 years has embodied the institute’s mission to elevate and inspire women. She leads a student-centered research team at Marquette focusing on mitochondrial biochemistry and metabolism, currently funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). As part of her commitment to develop high-impact learning experiences for undergraduate students, Dr. Stuart developed the College of Arts and Sciences Career Preparedness Internship Program, a grant-funded initiative to promote student access to paid internship opportunities in Milwaukee; and the MU4Gold Scholars Program, an interdisciplinary program supporting early student access to faculty-mentored research. She also serves as director of the Biological and Environmental Sciences Internship program.

A strong supporter of gender equity and the success of women, Dr. Stuart participates in Marquette’s NSF-funded ADVANCE initiative that supports the advancement of women in STEM. She also serves on the university committee on diversity and equity, among other campus organizations.

Dr. Stuart holds a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in botany-biochemistry from University College Dublin, and a Doctor of National Sciences (Dr. rer. nat.) from Ludwig-Maximillians Universität, München, Germany.

Sierra Peaks is an integrated engineering and manufacturing service company based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that employs project management expertise into such industries as defense, intelligence, aerospace, energy, audio, and research communities. Jacinto oversees operations at the company’s New Mexico facility, managing multiple projects and leading a team of project managers, engineers, and technicians.

After earning a B.S. in aerospace engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, followed by an M.Eng. in industrial engineering from the University of Houston, Jacinto completed an engineering rotation program and began working as a quality engineer. Eager to develop her leadership skills, she applied and was hired to lead a team of engineers, becoming the youngest and only woman supervisor for the facility.

She credits the mentorship she received through with the Society of Women Engineers, which bolstered her development as a leader and instilled a desire to support other young women entering the engineering profession.

Apart from her work with Sierra Peaks, Jacinto volunteers as a coach for a middle school volleyball team and serves on the boards of Girls on the Run Rio Grande Inc. and Citizens Schools.

Although an interim role, Sheridan is responsible for carrying out the agency’s core mission of providing safe, secure, and reliable passage for customers; advancing a state of good repair; and collecting, protecting, and recovering toll revenue, which provides for the sustainability of these facilities and subsidizes the MTA’s mass transit services.

Sheridan began her career at the New York State Department of Transportation as a seasonal transportation construction inspector in 1990. She progressed through increasingly responsible positions, rising to chief engineer of the New York State Thruway Authority and New York State Canal Corporation. In that role, in addition to overseeing a multi-billion-dollar capital program, she was an executive advisor for the $3.9 billion Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge design-build project.

Sheridan was integral to the state’s 2011 response and recovery following Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, which caused extensive damages to the Erie Canal and surrounding communities. She led operations to restore navigation and secured competitive FEMA mitigation grants to significantly reduce peak flood levels in adjacent communities.

Sheridan joined the MTA in 2019 as a senior vice president at MTA construction and development and was the agency’s incident commander through the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring essential construction projects safely continued with minimal schedule disruptions. In 2020, Sheridan was promoted to chief of staff and managed the MTA’s unprecedented $55 billion capital program, which included the opening of Grand Central Madison terminal.

Sheridan holds a B.M. in trumpet performance from Boston University and an M.S. in civil engineering and engineering mechanics from Columbia University. She is a licensed professional engineer in New York. Sheridan served in the U.S. Army as a combat engineer, reaching the rank of captain. She is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and WTS International. In 2022, Sheridan was named by Crain’s New York Business as one of the 40 Notable Women in Construction, Design and Architecture.

The Trailblazer of the Year Award specifically recognizes advocacy for P3’s, promotion of innovative practices and ideas, and exceptional and visionary leadership in the P3 sector. This award is given to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to, and advocacy for, the forward progress of P3s in the U.S. transportation industry.

Perrin is senior vice president with the New York office of WSP USA (Williams Sale Partnership), a global firm with roots in the UK and other countries. WSP USA operates in the fields of strategic consulting, planning, engineering, construction management, energy, infrastructure, and community planning.

Public-private partnerships or P3s in transportation are contractual relationships typically between a private company and a state or local government, who own most transportation infrastructure. Perrin has been a leader in P3s, alternative delivery, and transit-oriented development during her 40-plus year career in planning and engineering. She is nationally recognized for her ability to help transportation agencies find innovative and cost-effective project solutions. Perrin has also spearheaded initiatives to promote greater opportunities for the industry’s women professionals.

A professional civil engineer with decades of complex project experience, Perrin has served as a senior technical advisor, project director, project manager, and environmental and planning manager for transit and highway projects throughout the United States and Canada. She has been involved with an array of P3 projects including Louisiana’s 1-10 Calcasieu River Bridge in Louisiana, Op Lanes Maryland traffic relief program, Los Angeles International Airport’s Automated People Mover, and Michigan’s I-75 Modernization Project.

Perrin holds an M.S. in civil engineering from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient from P3 Bulletin’s P3 Awards Program.