MSE Department Activity on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

The Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Department at Lehigh University is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racist action in our department, college, university, and beyond. We take pride in the diversity of our student body and strive to be inclusive of all members of our Lehigh community. We recognize that there is still significant progress to be made to become a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive institution. To achieve these goals, our department is taking the following actions. This list will be reviewed and updated on a regular basis as we continue learning:

  1. We, the faculty and staff in the MSE department, have formed a committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) that meets at least once per month.
  2. All MSE department faculty and staff will attend annual DEI training offered at Lehigh University. 
  3. We are devoting at least the first five minutes of every departmental faculty and staff meeting to discuss DEI topics. These discussion topics may include vignettes specific to Lehigh, reviews or discussions of related publications, and examples of best practices.
  4. We will communicate a summary of ongoing DEI activities in the department, college, and university to our student body each semester.
  5. We will share mechanisms to report feedback and incidents within the department and beyond.
  6. Every semester, the MSE DEI committee will reevaluate departmental practices related to DEI and anti-racist action and provide recommendations to the department to reinforce our ongoing commitment to our goals.
  7. Our departmental DEI committee will also coordinate with other DEI and DEI-related action at the college and university level each semester to maximize impact across campus and beyond. 

MSE DEI Committee:

  • Lesley Chow (Faculty), pronouns: she, her, hers
  • Itzel Esparza (Undergraduate Student), pronouns: she, her, hers
  • Laura Moyer (Staff), pronouns: she, her, hers
  • Siddha Pimputkar (Faculty), pronouns: he, him, his
  • Nicholas Strandwitz (Faculty), pronouns: he, him, his
  • Joel Garcia Jr. (Graduate Student), pronouns: he, him, his
  • Jonny Valenzuela (Graduate Student), pronouns: he, him, his

Former DEI Committee Members:

  • Joshua Agar (Faculty), pronouns: he, him, his
  • John Tolbert (Graduate Student), pronouns: he, him, his
  • Savannah Buzzeo (Undergraduate Student), pronouns: she, her, hers
  • Diana Hammerstone (Graduate Student), pronouns: she, her, hers
  • Em Soule (Graduate Student), pronouns: they, them, she, her
  • Eli Resnick (Undergraduate Student), pronouns: he, him, his