People: SWE Conference 2021

The provost is the chief academic officer and leads efforts to deliver world-class educational experiences and produce high-impact research and scholarship. This includes academic programs and initiatives that span the university’s 18 colleges and schools, which serve more than 51,000 students and support more than 3,000 teaching and research faculty members.

Dr. Wood is internationally recognized for her research on the earthquake response of reinforced concrete structures. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and previously served as president of the American Concrete Institute. She has served on federal advisory committees for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

As dean, Dr. Wood strengthened the reputation of the Cockrell School as a global leader in engineering education, research, and technology innovation. She helped lead efforts to build the Engineering Education and Research Center, increased annual research expenditures from $176 million to $199 million, and played a pivotal role in the collaboration to renovate the Anna Hiss Gymnasium, creating the interdisciplinary home for Texas Robotics. She created a new role for the school’s first-ever associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and commissioned the first DEI plan and annual report. Dr. Wood led efforts to increase the number of undergraduate students from underrepresented communities by 22% and oversaw record graduation rates for engineering students, with four-year rates increasing by more than 80% during her tenure as dean.

Dr. Howard is recognized for fundamental contributions to the development of accessible human-robotic systems and artificial intelligence, along with forging new paths to broaden participation in computing through entrepreneurial and mentoring efforts. Her contributions span theoretical foundations, experimental evaluation, and practical applications.

She is a leading roboticist, entrepreneur, and educator whose research includes dexterous manipulation, robot learning, field robotics, and human-robot interaction. She is a leader in studying the over-trust that people place in robots in various autonomous decision-making settings. In addition to her stellar research record, Dr. Howard has a strong record of service that demonstrates her commitment to advancing the field and broadening participation.

Dr. Howard has created and led numerous programs designed to engage, recruit, and retain students and faculty from groups that are historically underrepresented in computing, including several NSF-funded Broadening Participation in Computing initiatives. She was the principal investigator (PI)/co-PI for Popularizing Computing in the Mainstream, which focused on creating interventions to engage underrepresented groups in the computing field; Advancing Robotics Technology for Societal Impact Alliance, an initiative to provide mentorship to computer science faculty and students at historically Black colleges and universities; and Accessible Robotic Programming for Students with Disabilities, an initiative to engage middle school and high school students with disabilities in robotics-based programming activities. She also led and co-founded efforts to broaden participation in the field through the IEEE Robotics PhD Forum and the Computing Research Association’s Committee on Widening Participation in Computing Research Graduate Cohort Workshop for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Leadership Skills.

Kristi S. Anseth, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and associate faculty director of the BioFrontiers Institute at the University of Colorado, is the 2021 recipient of the award. She is an elected member of the National Academies of Engineering, Medicine, Sciences, and Inventors. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and the Materials Research Society. She has been an active member of AIChE since 1989 and has served on the chemical engineering technical operating council and as a member and chair of the awards selection subcommittee.

Dr. Anseth has been recognized with two AIChE awards, the Colburn and Professional Progress awards; the Society for Biological Engineering James E. Bailey Award; and the Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division Award. She serves as an editor for Biomacromolecules, Progress in Materials Science, and Biotechnology and Bioengineering.

Like Ricker, Dr. Dixon has a passion for traffic safety, especially improving the design process. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University, she worked as a site development, roadway, and interchange designer. She enjoyed making the design process better and mentoring the next generation. Inspired by her interactions with young professionals, she completed her master’s and doctoral degrees at North Carolina State University and became a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Oregon State University before returning to Texas A&M and joining TTI in 2012.

At TTI, Dr. Dixon oversees the Traffic Operations and Roadway Safety Division, where her research emphasizes ways to improve facility design, operation, and safety for all road users. She plays a key role in updating the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ Highway Safety Manual, which applies quantitative safety analysis to highway transportation project planning and development processes. She also serves as a co-chair on the Transportation Research Board’s safety performance and analysis committee.

Nationally recognized as a roadway safety expert, Dr. Dixon is well-known for her uncanny ability to sort through high-level statistical techniques and turn them into easy-to-use, practitioner-friendly methodologies and tools. She is the author or co-author of more than 100 technical papers or research reports, including a highway design textbook and TRB’s Access Management Manual. Her creative approach to research challenges, coupled with her practical experience in the field and classroom, offer leadership lessons to an up-and-coming generation of traffic safety professionals.

Currently a principal hydrologist with the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources, she leads multiple critical water initiatives. She has led water research projects on water access, desalinization, and drought, collaborating with the multiple partners on and off the Navajo Nation. She previously worked at prestigious research labs across the U.S., including Los Alamos National Lab, Lawrence Livermore, and others. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Tulley-Cordova provided technical and outreach expertise to a multiagency team installing 59 transitional water point locations, reducing travel time to access safe water on the Navajo Nation. She is an inspiration to Native students everywhere to pursue their dreams while maintaining their Native identities. Her mission: assist communities to use their Indigenous knowledge to build sustainable water projects, provide safe water access, and protect and manage water resources across the Navajo Nation.

This part of her heritage and the culture of Native Americans held a special passion for her. It is this strong connection that has shaped her professional life and drives how she relates to the diverse group of employees and managers she serves as a human resources business partner. Anderson serves as the enterprise focal for AISES, where she coordinates all the activities for the AISES Leadership Summit and National Conference. As chair of the continuous improvement committee of the Mesa site diversity and inclusion council, she uses her leadership skills to encourage empowerment and inclusion. She is also treasurer of the Boeing American Indian Society.

The goal is to encourage Indigenous people to tap into their entrepreneurial spirits using solar applications that can be of benefit to themselves and their communities. In addition, she conducts STEM activities for students at the fourth- to 12th-grade levels. She has more than 35 years of experience in the electrical trade sector. She was previously employed with NativeSUN, a nonprofit organization whose mission was to educate, install, and finance PV systems in Northern Arizona. Tewa was also employed with the Arizona Energy Office as a tribal energy coordinator and was instrumental in setting up an extensive PV laboratory at Central Arizona College, where she taught both beginning and advanced PV classes. She is president/owner of Tewa Energy Services LLC.