Every successful engineer has had at least one mentor that has guided them in their careers. Most have had several mentors they credit with their success. How do we foster those mentoring relationships to promote inclusion?

In this episode, host Wanda Sigur will speak with Dr. Angela Byars-Winston, professor of internal medicine at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Dr. Percy Pierre, a professor of computer and electrical engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, about their mentoring experiences, and how to encourage mentors and mentees alike in engineering. Good mentorship opens up opportunities for the mentee, and increases achievement, retention and career commitment. If it’s built into academic and professional systems, it can do a lot to increase equity in engineering.

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Guest Bios

Dr. Angela Byars-Winston is a tenured faculty member in the Division of General Internal Medicine within the Department of Medicine. She is also the inaugural Chair of the University of Wisconsin Institute for Diversity Science, associate director in the Collaborative Center for Health Equity, and faculty lead in the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research. In 2011, Dr. Byars-Winston was selected as a Champion of Change by the White House through President Obama's Winning the Future initiative for her research efforts to diversify science fields. In 2022, she was the recipient of the Innovation in Mentorship Research award from the Association of Clinical and Translational Research. Dr. Byars-Winston chaired the National Academies of Sciences’ 2019 consensus study report, The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM. She is an elected Fellow in the American Psychological Association and is currently an appointed member of the NIH National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council.

Dr. Percy Pierre is an Adjunct Professor in the Clark School and Glenn L. Martin Endowed Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Pierre has over 50 years of experience in academic administration and the administration of military research and development. His service in academic administration includes Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at Michigan State University, President of Prairie View A&M University near Houston Texas, and Dean of Engineering at Howard University in Washington DC. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Notre Dame and the Board of Trustees of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. His service in military R&D administration includes service as Acting Secretary of the Army in 1981, as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research, Development, and Acquisition, and as a researcher at the RAND Corporation. Pierre is recognized as the first African American to earn a doctorate in electrical engineering. Pierre was elected to National Academy of Engineering membership in 2009.