Overview: This upcoming webinar is the final part of a three-series webinar that explores the insights of a groundbreaking report on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in STEMM organizations, created by the National Academies. The focus of this session will be on actionable steps to foster progress in DEI. The discussion will revolve around strategies for promoting inclusion, improving demographic data, leveraging STEMM professionals, addressing individual bias, and developing a culture of antiracism by emphasizing the pivotal role of leadership. The webinar aims to propel tangible and transformative actions in the pursuit of equitable and diverse STEM environments.
Monday, January 22, 2024, at 2pm EST
Moderator: Laura Albert
Panel:
Jesie Dearo
Elena Gerstmann
Chrysafis Vogiatzi
Dr. Laura Albert, Ph.D., is a Professor and the David Gustafson Department Chair of the Department Chair of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was also the 2023 President of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). Professor Albert’s research interests are in the field of operations research and analytics with application to security and public sector problems. Her research has been awarded many honors, including a Fulbright Award, the INFORMS Impact Prize, a National Science Foundation CAREER award, and a Department of the Army Young Investigator Award. She has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. She is the author of the blog “Punk Rock Operations Research.”
Dr. Jessie DeAro has twenty years of experience designing, implementing, and leading diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA) federal grant programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Education. She has worked with programs supporting Minority-Serving Institutions, STEM graduate education, and education research related to broadening participation in STEM. She is currently the NSF ADVANCE: Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions program lead and the Building Capacity in STEM Education Research program co-lead. She has also served as acting Deputy Division Director at NSF and as a senior policy advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in 2010.
Dr. Elena Gerstmann, PhD, FASAE, CAE is the Executive Director of INFORMS. INFORMS is the premier association for professionals and students who apply science, math, technology, and analytics to solve the world’s most critical challenges. INFORMS keeps its members informed and fosters robust engagement to empower them to drive better decision-making. Before joining INFORMS, Elena served as a Principal at Avenue M Group. She previously served on the executive team at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
She earned her doctorate in social psychology from Rutgers University. She is a past board member of ASAE and is currently on the Board of Directors for CESSE. Elena uses she/her/hers pronouns and is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Dr. Chrysafis Vogiatzis is a teaching associate professor in the Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He received a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. degree in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the University of Florida, as well as a Dipl. Eng. degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. His academic interests lie in network analysis and optimization, along with their vast applications in modern socio-technical, transportation and infrastructure, and biological systems. At the University of Illinois, Chrysafis is teaching Probabilities and Statistics for Engineers for the undergraduate program, and Analysis of Network Data for the graduate program. His scholar activities have been funded (as a PI and a co-PI) by the Army Research Lab and the National Science Foundation. He is a member of INFORMS, IISE, and ASEE and is currently serving as the Vice Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of INFORMS.