November 1, 2010
Baltimore, MD — ABET is pleased to announce the 2010 winners of the prestigious Claire L. Felbinger Awards for Diversity:
- The Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, and
- The Michigan College/University Partnership Program (MiCUP) through Michigan Technological University.
The awards were conferred at the ABET Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD.
ABET is the recognized accrediting body for college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology. The organization’s diversity award is named for the late Dr. Claire L. Felbinger, a Public Member on the ABET Board of Directors and a leader in promoting diversity initiatives for technical fields. The award recognizes educational units, individuals, associations, and firms for extraordinary success in achieving diversity and inclusiveness or for facilitating diversity and inclusiveness in the technological segments of our society.
The 2010 recipients were recognized for the following achievements:
The Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech "for their successful development and on-going operation of programs to provide encouragement and support for diversity in engineering through pre-college programs, recruiting efforts for prospective students, and programs to support current underrepresented engineering students." [watch the video]
The Michigan College and University Partnership "for a collaborative effort between four Michigan community colleges – Ojibwa, Delta, Grand Rapids, and Wayne County Community Colleges – and Michigan Technological University for successful efforts to significantly increase the transfer of underrepresented ethnic minority, first generation and economically disadvantaged students into Michigan Tech's four year baccalaureate program." [watch the video]
About the Award
The Claire L. Felbinger Award for Diversity began as the President’s Award for Diversity in 2005. It was meant both as an extension of ABET’s commitment to fostering diversity in the disciplines it accredits and as recognition of the outstanding efforts being made in this realm. The award has been presented annually since that time.
Dr. Felbinger, a former Chair of American University’s Masters of Public Administration program, was a Public Member of the ABET Board of Directors from 1998 to 2004. Under her leadership, the Board’s Public Member Committee was a key driver for many of the diversity initiatives ABET has carried out over the past decade, including a formal policy statement on diversity and the reporting of diversity statistics on ABET’s volunteers. In 2008, the ABET Board of Directors approved the renaming of the award in Dr. Felbinger’s honor. Learn more about the Claire L. Felbinger Award for Diversity.
About ABET
ABET, the recognized accreditor for college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology, is a federation of 31 professional and technical societies representing these fields. Among the most respected accreditation organizations in the U.S., ABET has provided leadership and quality assurance in higher education for more than 75 years.
ABET currently accredits over 3,100 programs at more than 600 colleges and universities worldwide. More than 2,000 dedicated volunteers participate annually in ABET activities. ABET also provides leadership internationally through workshops, memoranda of understanding, and mutual recognition agreements, such as the Washington Accord. ABET is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.