Judith Todd Receives Presidential Mentoring Honor

ASME Fellow Judith A. Todd, head of the engineering science and mechanics department at Pennsylvania State University, was named as one of the winners of the latest Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring last month in Washington, D.C.

Judith A. Todd

Todd, a member of the Society's Mechanical Engineering Department Heads Committee, was one of 10 individuals and one organization representing a number of scientific disciplines who received the award. The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring are supported and administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Since 1996, these awards have been given each year to recognize the critical importance of mentors in the academic and personal development of students and colleagues who are underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Todd, who is the P.B. Breneman Department Head Chair of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State, was honored for her track record in mentoring women engineers at all levels in their careers, according to the NSF. Todd, the first female engineering department chair at Penn State, has developed and implemented several programs to institute gender equity and salary parity, including her "Strategic Pathways to Equity and Leadership (SPEL): Preparing for the Professoriate" mentoring program.

Todd is a former vice president of ASME's Manufacturing Technical Group and a former chair of the Pressure Vessels and Piping Division, and has held a number of other Society posts. This year, she was honored with the ASME Distinguished Service Award for her vounteer efforts for the Society, and the ASME Board of Governors Award for service as the Pressure Vessels and Piping Division chair in 2006–2007. She also was the recipient of the ASME Board on Minorities and Women Award in 1997.

Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring are given to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding and sustained mentoring and guidance to a significant number of underrepresented students at the K-12, undergraduate, or graduate education level; or organizations that, through their programming, have enabled a substantial number of students who are traditionally underrepresented in the STEM fields to pursue and complete relevant degree programs.

In addition to being honored at a White House ceremony, awardees receive a grant of $10,000 to continue and advance their mentoring work. To date, 178 individuals and organizations have been recognized through the Presidential Awards for Excellence program. Nominations are made by colleagues, administrators and students from the nominee's organization, which must be eligible to be a NSF award grantee.

For more information on Todd and the other winners of the award, visit www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=
110716&org=NSF&from=news.

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