Presenter: Dr. Donna Riley, Dean, UNM School of Engineering
Description: Dr. Riley explores connections between peace and place and how these connections are related under the broad umbrella of Peace Engineering. She explains how engineers must draw on the expertise of other disciplines including social and community-based psychology, anthropology, sociology, medicine, law, finance and business communities to create successful, sustainable peace solutions to the complex problems we face presently, and in the future.
Dr. Riley is the 22nd—and first female—dean of the UNM School of Engineering, which was founded in 1906. She also holds the rank of professor in the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at UNM. She joined UNM from Purdue University, where she was the Kamyar Haghighi Head and Professor in the School of Engineering Education since 2017. She previously was professor and interim head in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech, and from 2013-2015 served as program director for engineering education at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Riley spent 13 years as a founding faculty member of the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College, the first engineering program at a U.S. women’s college.
She is a fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and recently was elected as vice president of scholarship for ASEE, a two-year term beginning at the 2023 ASEE Conference and Expo in Baltimore in June. Riley’s research focuses on the field of engineering education, especially the integration of ethics, communication, social analysis, lifelong learning and how those skillsets help in the formation of engineering professionals. She is the author of two books, Engineering and Social Justice and Engineering Thermodynamics and 21st Century Energy Problems. She is the recipient of the 2016 Alfred N. Goldsmith Award from the IEEE Professional Communications Society, the 2012 Sterling Olmsted Award from ASEE, and the 2010 Educator of the Year award from Out to Innovate.
Peace Engineering Symposium June 20-23, 2023
