Materials Science & Engineering
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MSE Department Activity on Fostering Community and Culture 

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 Community and Culture (C&C) that meets at least once per month.
  2. All MSE department faculty and staff will attend annual C&C training offered at Lehigh University. 
  3. We are devoting at least the first five minutes of every departmental faculty and staff meeting to discuss C&C 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 C&C 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 C&C committee will reevaluate departmental practices related to C&C and anti-racist action and provide recommendations to the department to reinforce our ongoing commitment to our goals.
  7. Our departmental C&C committee will also coordinate with other C&C and C&C-related action at the college and university level each semester to maximize impact across campus and beyond. 

MSE C&C Committee:

  • Gaby Ramirez (Undergraduate Student), pronouns: she, her, hers
  • Jennifer Schuler (Faculty), pronouns: she, her, hers
  • Joel Garcia Jr. (Graduate Student), pronouns: he, him, his
  • Lesley Chow (Faculty), pronouns: she, her, hers
  • Nicholas Strandwitz (Faculty), pronouns: he, him, his
  • Rhianna Kneebone (Staff), pronouns: she, her, hers
  • Ruby Torres (Undergraduate Student), pronouns: she, her, hers
  • Siddha Pimputkar (Faculty), pronouns: he, him, his
  • Tenzin Sherpa (Graduate Student), pronouns: she, her, hers

Former C&C Committee Members:

  • Casey Dolan (Undergraduate Student), pronouns: she, her, hers
  • Diana Hammerstone (Graduate Student), pronouns: she, her, hers
  • Eli Resnick (Undergraduate Student), pronouns: he, him, his
  • Em Soule (Graduate Student), pronouns: they, them, she, her
  • Itzel Esparza (Undergraduate Student), pronouns: she, her, hers
  • Joshua Agar (Faculty), pronouns: he, him, his
  • John Tolbert (Graduate Student), pronouns: he, him, his
  • Jonny Valenzuela (Graduate Student), pronouns: he, him, his
  • Laura Moyer (Staff), pronouns: she, her, hers
  • Savannah Buzzeo (Undergraduate Student), pronouns: she, her, hers