Michigan Tech Professor Adrienne Minerick was recently inducted into the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Hall of Fame, one of its highest honors.
Twenty-two individuals and three teams were inducted in celebration of the Society’s 130th year. The award recognizes engineering and engineering technology education standouts whose work has made a significant impact.
“It is humbling and a huge honor to be listed with so many ‘greats’ who have had such a lasting impact on the engineering education field,” Minerick said. “Many are my heroes and mentors.”
For Minerick, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, the honor recognizes her many efforts to infuse Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Sense of Belonging (DEIS) into all of her leadership roles. She is also a past president of ASEE, and serves as PI and Director of the ADVANCE Initiative at Michigan Tech. ADVANCE, funded by the National Science Foundation, is dedicated to promoting faculty retention, career success, and STEM equity with an emphasis on advancing underrepresented individuals with intersectional identities.
For more than a century, ASEE has been proud to support the engineering educators whose work has modernized society. That includes Jenna Carpenter, the immediate past president of ASEE, and dean of Campbell University School of Engineering. Carpenter was also inducted into the ASEE Hall of Fame alongside Minerick. She also nominated Minerick for the honor.
“Dr. Minerick’s national-level service to and leadership of ASEE and the chemical engineering profession have been outstanding,” she said. “Our hope would be that the work of Dr. Minerick and the other honorees will continue to make a positive impact, and serve as a platform for those coming behind us to reach even greater heights.”
The ASEE Hall of Fame inductees’ areas of influence are broad, with expertise in pedagogy, broadening participation, research, leadership and service, entrepreneurship, and more. Read the full list here.
“It takes a variety of ideas, creativity and experiences to achieve very unique and valuable problem-solving.”
Minerick first joined ASEE in 2003, as a new faculty member at Mississippi State University.
“Because ASEE provided a support network for my professional growth, I volunteered in many areas and eventually became a delegate to the newly formed ASEE diversity committee,” says Minerick. She progressed to vice chair and then chair of the committee in 2014-2015.
Year of Action
“The committee first petitioned the board to approve, and then hosted ASEE’s Year of Action on Diversity. At the annual conference in 2014, we gave out rainbow ribbons and had footstep decals on display all throughout the conference venue educating attendees on DEIS issues,” Minerick recalls.
The Best DEI Paper was envisioned, approved by the board, and integrated into ASEE practices during the Year of Action, as well.
“Before that time, diversity content and conversations were peripheral to ASEE, but after the Year of Action, DEIS became integrated into nearly every division of ASEE, including a dedicated section on bylaws and programming,” she says.
During her term as ASEE president Minerick says one of her most meaningful and rewarding efforts was helping to promote a next-generation effort—the ASEE Year of Impact on Racial Equity—established by the ASEE Commission on Diversity Equity and Inclusion.
“ASEE is the place where engineering and engineering technology educators plan for the futures our students will encounter,” said Minerick. “It’s extremely important that everyone in the realm of engineering feels valued, heard and included—they’re going to be more productive in generating the highest quality outputs.”
“It takes a variety of ideas, creativity and experiences to achieve very unique and valuable problem-solving. When everyone is valued at the table, end solutions are much more impactful and tied to society than they would be otherwise.”
In addition to this recognition from ASEE, Adrienne was awarded the AES Electrophoresis Society Lifetime Achievement Award in October 2022 and was recently elected Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (2023).
“Each of us are stewards of our engineering climate,” she adds. “It requires deliberate effort to create an environment where each and every student feels welcome and appreciated for their unique skills and talents, gained from lived experiences.”