The Liberal Education Division of the American Society for Engineering Education is pleased to present the 2003 Sterling Olmsted Award to Kathryn A. Neeley of the Division of Technology, Culture, and Communication in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia. This award is made in recognition of the many contributions Professor Neeley has made to the education of engineering students as an educator and lecturer, as a contributor to the literature, as a leader of several professional organizations, and as researcher on the cutting edge of engineering education.
Professor Neeley received her education in English at the University of South Carolina and the University of Virginia, where she received her Ph.D. in 1989. Her entire professional career since 1979 has been at Virginia, with the exception of a sabbatical as a visiting fellow at Cambridge University. At Virginia she has taken an active role in faculty affairs, including organizing a number of conferences and meetings related to the interaction of the humanities and technology, as well as serving on the executive committee of the faculty senate.
On the national scene Professor Neeley has become well known as a superb leader and organizer. She has served in all of the offices of the Liberal Education Division of the ASEE and as President and Vice-President of the Humanities and Technology Association. She was instrumental in bringing to fruition an important NSF conference on "Liberal Studies and the Integrated Engineering Education of ABET 2000" as co-organizer. She is editing a series of white papers from the conference, which are expected to have a major impact on the future of the humanities and social sciences in engineering education.
Throughout her professional career, Professor Neeley has continued to develop both her love for traditional humanities scholarship and her interest in the liberal education of engineers. She has presented numerous papers in both areas and has had an active consulting career in technical communication. The variety of classes she has taught, including topics such as "The Engineer in Society," "Western Technology and Culture," and "Women and the History of Science and Technology," demonstrate her willingness to continue to broaden her intellectual horizons. Her well regarded book, Mary Somerville: Science, Illumination, and the Female Mind, published by Cambridge, shows her adeptness in traditional scholarship, while here role as co-editor of Liberal Education for 21st Century Engineering: Responses to ABET 2000 shows her more applied side.
Dr. Neeley serves as a model of an individual who enhances the role of the liberal education in engineering education. For her lifelong contributions to bridging the gap between the liberal arts and the professions, the Liberal Education Division is honored to celebrate her as the 2003 recipient of its highest honor, the Sterling Olmsted Award.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah K.A. Pfatteicher, Ph.D.
LED Chair, 2002-03
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