March 26, 2011
Baltimore, MD - ABET, the world leader in higher education accreditation for applied science, computing, engineering, and technology programs, announced today that its Board of Directors has elected Karan Watson, Ph.D., P.E., as its 2011-2012 President-Elect. Dr. Watson will be installed during the fall 2011 ABET Board of Directors Meeting in October.
Dr. Watson, who was recently appointed Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Texas A&M University, has been involved with ABET and accreditation for more than 20 years. She was a program evaluator from IEEE (formerly the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) and served on ABET's Engineering Accreditation Commission from 2011 through 2006. Currently, she is the Representative Director from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) on the ABET Board of Directors.
Dr. Watson is a Fellow of both ASEE and IEEE and has been awarded the IEEE field medal for undergraduate teaching (1996). In 1997 she received the ASEE Minorities in Engineering Award. She served on the ASEE Women in Engineering Board in 1992 and 1997. She has served as the President of the IEEE Education Society and the chair of the IEEE Women in Engineering Committee.
Dr. Watson received awards for mentoring minorities and women from the President of the United States (1997) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1999). In 1996, she received the Harriet B. Rigas Award, given by Hewlett Packard and IEEE. She has won numerous teaching awards at the university, college, and department levels at Texas A&M University since she joined the faculty in 1983. Dr. Watson received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D., all in electrical engineering, from Texas Tech University.
In addition to Dr. Watson, who will serve as President-Elect, the following individuals will serve as officers on the ABET Board of Directors during the 2011-2012 term:
- Larry A. Kaye, Ph.D., P.E., will become 2011-2012 ABET President. Dr. Kaye is currently President-Elect and has been involved with ABET accreditation for more than 25 years. He is a fellow of ABET and of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Dr. Kaye spent much of his career in various technical, managerial, staff, and executive positions at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. He received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Yale University and his B.S. in chemical engineering from New York University.
- Jeffrey J. Siirola, Ph.D., was elected ABET Secretary at the spring 2011 Board of Directors meeting. Dr. Siirola is a Technology Fellow at Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport, Tenn. He was the Presidentof the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) for 2005 and currently serves as one of the society's representatives on the ABET Board of Directors. He received a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Utah.
- Bassem F. Armaly, Ph.D., will serve the second year of a two-year term as ABET Treasurer. Previously, Armaly chaired the ABET Finance Committee and represented ASME (formerly the American Society of Mechanical Engineers) on the ABET Board of Directors. Armaly is the Curators’ Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Mo. He received a B.S.M.E. and an M.S.M.E. from the University of Iowa and his Ph.D.M.E. from the University of California at Berkeley.
- 2010-2011 ABET President Phillip Borrowman, P.E., S.E., will become ABET Past President. Previously, he served as an American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) representative on the Board of Directors. He was named a Fellow of ABET in 2007. Currently, Borrowman is a Senior Vice President at Hanson Professional Services, Inc., in Kansas City, Mo.
In addition, two individuals will act as Board Representatives to the Executive Committee for the 2011-2012 term:
- Lawrence G. Jones, Ph.D., will serve the second year as a Board Representative to the Executive Committee, as well as continuing as a Representative Director from CSAB, Inc., on the ABET Board of Directors. Previously, he chaired the ABET Accreditation Council for two years, was Chair of the Computing Accreditation Commission, and was inducted as an ABET Fellow in 2009. Dr. Jones leads the Product Line Practice Initiative at the Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. He received a B.S. and an M.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Arkansas and his Ph.D. in computer science from Vanderbilt University.
- Mary Leigh Wolfe, Ph.D., was elected Board Representative to the Executive Committee at the spring 2011 Board of Directors meeting. She will hold this position while simultaneously continuing her three-year term as the Representative Director from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) on the ABET Board of Directors. Dr. Wolfe is Professor and Interim Head of the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. She is a fellow of ABET, ASABE, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). Dr. Wolfe received B.S. and M.S. degrees in agricultural engineering from Virginia Tech and her Ph.D. in agricultural engineering from the University of Minnesota.
The 2011-2012 leadership will be installed during the fall 2011 ABET Board of Directors meeting, which will be held in Baltimore on Saturday, October 29, 2011.
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.