EDUCATION DO RESEARCH, GAIN EXPERIENCE, AND GET A JOB A
“At Howard University, we inspire our students to have an interest in serving as leaders in America and in the global community,” says College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Sciences (CEACS) interim dean Lorraine N. Fleming.
Fortunately Fleming can back her talk with an experiential walk. At Howard University, she has created two National Science Foundation (NSF)-backed programs for undergraduate science and engineering students that respectively introduces them to potential domestic and international STEM research careers
HUSEM (the Howard University Science, Engineering, and Mathematics program) promotes academic achievement and minority STEM representation in research. GEAR UP (the Global Education, Awareness and Research Undergraduate Program), supports engineering and science research abroad.
Fleming, who was always strong in math, was the first member of her family to attend college and grew up knowing people who attended Howard University.
She matriculated on the Hilltop planning to teach math, but after taking engineering-related courses took another path to use her skill at calculations.
She chose civil engineering and specialties in geotechnical engineering and engineering education. While not engaged in non-academic engineering work, Fleming says she is, “very involved in the civil engineering organizations that create the curriculum for the discipline’s global professionals.”
And thus is the perfect person to tell students to:
• Achieve technical proficiency in your field, but understand that success will occur if you gain expertise in communicating ideas in oral and written form.
• Seek out international travel, study, and internship opportunities. They will expand and enhance your network of friends and colleagues.
• Follow domestic and international news, consider how it relates to STEM, and consider what may be its future significance to your discipline.
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Lorraine N. Fleming, interim dean, Howard University College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Sciences
• Never shy away from seeking advice from your discipline’s professionals.
• Be aware that your undergraduate years are irreplaceable, savor, and use them to your best advantage.
That remembrance and a desire to give back brought Fleming back to campus after she received her Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering from George Washington University and Howard University, respectively.
Now she says, “Many of the students see themselves in me. I have lived in the same dorms and had some of the same professors.”
Seeding the STEM graduate fields In 1998, Fleming noted that most graduating science
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