Page 8 The Skanner August 22, 2018
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Three African-Americans
Claim Rare Engineering
Accomplishment
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire
he National Acad-
emy of Engineer-
ing has 83 new
members this year,
including a rare three
African-Americans who
are scheduled to be in-
ducted in a ceremony in
Washington, D.C. on Sep-
tember 30.
Lynden A. Archer,
a James Friend Family
Distinguished Professor
of Engineering in the
Smith School of Chem-
ical and Biomolecular
Engineering at Cornell
University in Ithaca,
New York; Gary S. May,
chancellor of the Univer-
sity of California, Davis;
PHOTOS BY ANTONIO HARRIS
T
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“
gineering literature” and
to “the pioneering of new
and developing fields
of technology, making
major advancements in
traditional fields of engi-
neering, or developing/
implementing innova-
tive approaches to engi-
neering education.”
The academy does
not disclose the racial
makeup of its member-
ship, but past Journal of
Blacks in Higher Educa-
tion (JBHE) research has
shown that Blacks make
up about one percent of
the members.
According to an anal-
ysis of the new mem-
bership list by JBHE, it
appears that there are
three Black engineers
I think African-American
participation in engineering
is crucial
and Gabriel C. Ejebe, the
senior project manager
for energy trading and
markets for Open Access
Technology Internation-
al in Minneapolis; are the
three African American
fellows.
“I think African-Amer-
ican participation in
engineering is crucial,”
said Archer, who joined
the faculty at Cornell in
2000.
Archer has earned
recognition by the acad-
emy for “advances in
nanoparticle-polymer
hybrid materials and in
electrochemical energy
storage technologies.”
A graduate of the Uni-
versity of Southern Cali-
fornia where he majored
in chemical engineering,
Archer holds a Ph.D. in
chemical
engineering
from Stanford Universi-
ty.
“We basically live in an
era where engineering
and science are essential-
ly at the forefront of both
human advancement and
creating wealth,” Archer
said.
“It’s crucial to encour-
age minority and African
American youngsters to
train their creativity in
this field … it prepares
you for so many things,”
he said.
Election to the National
Academy of Engineering
counts among the high-
est professional distinc-
tions accorded to an en-
gineer.
Academy
member-
ship reportedly honors
those who have made
outstanding
contribu-
tions to “engineering re-
search, practice, or edu-
cation, including, where
appropriate, significant
contributions to the en-
among the 83 new mem-
bers. Two of the three —
Archer and May — have
current academic affilia-
tions.
The new members
bring the total number
of U.S. members to 2,293,
according to JBHE.
“I am honored to be in-
cluded in the National
Academy of Engineering
Class of 2018,” said May,
the seventh chancellor
of UC Davis and one-time
dean of the College of En-
gineering at the Georgia
Institute of Technology
in Atlanta.
“It is gratifying to be
recognized for my re-
search in semiconductor
manufacturing and for
creating programs to
encourage underrepre-
sented groups to pursue
STEM careers,” said May,
a graduate of the Georgia
Institute of Technology
who earned selection to
the academy for his con-
tributions to semicon-
ductor manufacturing
research and for inno-
vations in educational
programs for underrep-
resented groups in engi-
neering.
A St. Louis, Missouri,
native, May holds a mas-
ter’s degree and a Ph.D.
in electrical engineering
and computer science
from the University of
California, Berkeley.
Despite his success, he
said there’s still a glaring
need for more individu-
als of color in engineer-
ing.
“We need more diver-
sity in engineering so
that we solve problems
that take into account
all experiences and per-
spectives,” May said. He
encourages youth to seek
mentors.
