Karan L. Watson, Provost Emeritus and a Regents Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University, was the invited speaker for the 2022-2023 Ethel Ashworth-Tsutsui Memorial Lecture, sponsored by Texas A&M Arts and Sciences Outreach and Women In Science and Engineering (WISE).
Watson presented a virtual lecture, “Teaching to Those Who Will Be Shaping Society in 2050,” at 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, via Zoom. The lecture, which was free and open to the public, was presented in conjunction with the Faculty of Engineering Education Group and the Institute for Engineering Education and Innovation.
Watson joined the Texas A&M faculty in 1983 and currently is a distinguished fellow of the Institute for Engineering Education and Innovation, for which she previously was a co-director. Throughout her nearly 40-year Texas A&M career, Watson has served in a variety of administrative capacities, including as provost and executive vice president, vice provost, dean of faculties and associate provost, interim vice president for diversity, associate dean of the College of Engineering and program chair for interdisciplinary engineering.
A fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), Watson’s career awards and recognitions include the U.S. President’s Award for Mentoring Minorities and Women in Science and Technology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science mentoring award, the IEEE International Undergraduate Teaching Medal, the ASEE Lifetime Achievement Award and numerous faculty awards at Texas A&M. She has served as president of ABET as well as the Education Society of IEEE.
At the conclusion of Watson’s presentation, Texas A&M graduate students Ciera Cipriani ’21 (Department of Materials Science and Engineering) and Rebecca Legere ’24 (Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences) were recognized as the 2022-2023 recipients of the Ethel Ashworth-Tsutsui Memorial Awards for Research, while fellow graduate student Madison Edwards ’22 (Department of Chemistry) were honored with the Ethel Ashworth-Tsutsui Memorial Award for Mentoring. Each received a $500 check, a memorial plaque and a certificate of recognition.
The awards are presented by WISE to highlight research and mentoring efforts by women on the Texas A&M campus in honor and remembrance of Ethel Ashworth-Tsutsui, a longtime faculty member in the Texas A&M Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. Tsutsui was a founding member of WISE and cared deeply about the retention and recognition of women in the university’s graduate programs. Both the awards and the event are sponsored by WISE, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Institute for Engineering Education and Innovation.
Women In Science and Engineering at Texas A&M is an organization of graduate students, staff and faculty from various science and engineering backgrounds. The group was created to address specific problems faced by women in nontraditional fields.
For more information about the lecture or other outreach events and women’s programs in the College of Arts and Sciences, please contact Texas A&M Arts and Sciences Outreach at (979) 458-4450.