Engineering summit to address the power of diversity

January 14, 2015

The University of Florida Engineering Leadership Institute (ELI) will host its biennial Gator Engineering Leadership Summit at the Reitz Union January 15. The summit, whose theme is “Powered to Lead,” will feature a lineup of women speakers who have served significant leadership roles in historically male-dominated government, military and STEM-related fields.

Over the course of the day, speakers and panelists will share their experience – including Intel Corporation’s chief information officer Kim Stevenson, former BAE Systems CEO Linda P. Hudson, and co-founder of the Pat Tillman Foundation, Marie Tillman, who has transformed the tragedy of her husband’s death in Afghanistan by providing more than $10 million in educational scholarships to service people.

“Our continued strength as a country rests on our ability to nurture the natural leadership talent of all our citizens, particularly women and people of many different racial and cultural backgrounds,” said Kent Fuchs, president of the University of Florida, who will also be speaking at the summit. “I am thrilled that our College of Engineering has made leadership a top priority and excited that we are hosting this important summit.”

Hundreds of faculty, students and student leaders are registered to attend the event, which is open to the public and members of the press. The College of Engineering will live-tweet throughout the day from its @FloridaEngineer account, using #Powered2Lead. Registration has closed for the sponsored keynote luncheon with Hudson.

“I’m excited to have leaders from all around the country joining us, many of them women, and Gators!” said Cammy Abernathy, dean of the UF College of Engineering. “Their experience spans military service, academic administration, environmental protection, non-profit organizations, and corporations, including the first female CEO in the defense industry.”

The Gator Engineering Leadership Summit is organized biennially by the University of Florida’s College of Engineering and is complemented every other year by the Gator Engineering Innovation Summit.

To learn more, please visit: http://www.eng.ufl.edu/summit2015/