School of Engineering Dean Jenna Carpenter was presented the Founders Award today from the Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN). The award honors“enduring, long-term service that epitomizes the spirit of the WEPAN founders” and contributes to the organization’s continued advancement.
Carpenter received the award at the inaugural CoNECD Conference in Arlington, Virginia. The Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity is a group effort of WEPAN and several other national engineering organizations.
Carpenter joined Campbell as founding dean of its engineering school in 2015. Previously, she served as associate dean for undergraduate studies in the College of Engineering and Science at Louisiana Tech University, where she also directed the Office for Women in Science and Engineering. Before and since arriving at Campbell, Carpenter has been a national voice on the role of women in engineering and the need for diversity in STEM education.
Carpenter said she was honored for the recognition from an organization she’s proud to be a part of — she served for almost a decade on WEPAN’s board of directors and was president in 2014-15.
“I will forever be grateful for the opportunities that WEPAN provided for me to lead and engage in meaningful efforts to advance and support the success of women in engineering,” she said.
WEPAN is a network of thought and change leaders from institutions, organizations and agencies that works to propel higher education to increase the number and advance the prominence of diverse communities of women in engineering. The organization “connects people, research and practice; and power initiatives, projects and professional development that equip advocates with the tools to create sustainable, systems-level changes that allow all in engineering to thrive.”
The Founders Award is one of several WEPAN will present at this year’s conference. The award is named for the three founders of WEPAN, Inc. — Suzanne G. Brainard, Jane Zimmer Daniels and Susan Staffin Metz.