Founded in 1893, the American Society for Engineering Education is a nonprofit organization of individuals and institutions committed to furthering education in engineering and engineering technology.
Clay Gloster, Jr. currently serves as the Interim Vice Provost for Research, Graduate Programs, Extended Learning, and Dean of the Graduate College at N.C. A&T. He also serves as the Chair of the Engineering Technology Division of the American Society for Engineering Education.
While a student at NC State he received several awards; African-American Leadership Award, Provost’s African-American Professional Development Award, and Chancellor’s African-American Leadership Award. After graduating, he held a faculty position at NC State’s ECE department for 7 years.
After NC State he then served as a tenured member of the faculty at Howard University. After Howard, he became the Chair of the NC A&T Department of Computer Systems Technology and later Associate Dean of the College of Science and Technology. Aside from high ed, he has also worked for IBM, the Department of Defense, and the Microelectronics Center of NC.
Dr. Gloster led the effort to establish two new Bachelor of Science degree programs: Computer Engineering at Howard University and Information Technology at N.C. A&T. Under his leadership, the Master of Science in Information Technology degree program ranked 16th in the country by US News and World Report. His dedication to scholarship has led to having published numerous articles in peer-reviewed conferences and journals and presentations of his work throughout the US, Europe, Africa, and China. He also holds two US patents.
Joseph J. Rencis has been in higher education for 41 years and takes pride in being a first generation college graduate from a rural county in Northwestern New Jersey. He earned an A.A.S. and a B.S. in Architectural and Building Construction Engineering Technology from Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), is on the Wall of Distinction, and serves on the Board of Regents. He has M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering from Northwestern University and Case Western Reserve University, respectively. Over his career, Rencis progressed from professor and director of engineering mechanics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute to department head of mechanical engineering at the University of Arkansas. He then served as dean of engineering at Tennessee Tech University and Cal Poly Pomona, followed by interim deans of engineering at the University at Albany (SUNY) and the University of Texas Permian Basin, and as interim department head at the University of Texas at Dallas. Rencis is currently serving as the inaugural associate dean of the School of Engineering in the College of Aviation Worldwide at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Dr. Rencis has served as President of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and as Chair of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Mechanical Engineering Department Heads Committee. He is a fellow and Hall of Fame member of ASEE, an ASME fellow, and a fellow of the Wessex Institute of Great Britain. Some major
awards include the ASEE Benjamin Garver Lamme Award, ASEE Donald E. Marlowe Award, ASEE Isadore T. Davis Award, ASME Edwin F. Church Medal, and the ASEE Northeast Section Teacher of the Year. Other recognitions include the Tennessee Tech Inaugural Clay N. Hixson Chair for Engineering Leadership and the University of Arkansas Inaugural Twenty-first Century Leadership Chair. Research focuses on computational mechanics and engineering education, and he has authored over 140 publications.
We are honored to announce that our Rising to the Top book series has added TWO new volumes!
Rising to the Top provides an intimate and inspiring look into the experiences that have shaped the lives and careers of women engineering leaders from around the world. By openly sharing their personal journeys in these pages, the authors hope to not only inspire the next generation of engineering leaders, but also provide valuable insight into the challenges facing women engineers around the world, and the opportunities that are theirs for the taking.
