Sunday, June 28, 2015

Dr. Norman Fortenberry: A Pioneer in Engineering Education





June 14, 2015

Dr. Norman Fortenberry, is Executive Director of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). ASEE is an international society of individual, institutional, and corporate members founded in 1893 and committed to promoting global excellence in engineering and engineering technology instruction, research, public service, professional practice, and societal awareness.

Dr. Fortenberry is an MIT Alumnus receiving the following three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a specialty in applied mechanics and design.

Sc.D., Mechanical Engineering (Course II)
1984 – 1991

S.M., Mechanical Engineering (Course II)
1983 – 1984

S.B., Mechanical Engineering (Course II)
1979 – 1983


Prior to his current responsibilities, Dr. Fortenberry is founding Director of the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education (CASEE) at the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). At NAE he was responsible for designing and developing the programs, organizational linkages, and personnel required to implement an ambitious new effort to achieve and maintain excellence in engineering education.

Prior to joining NAE in October, 2002, Dr. Fortenberry held managerial positions within the National ScienceFoundation (NSF) Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) including Senior Advisor and Division Director. In these positions, he was responsible for managing more than 40 professional and administrative staff members as well as program budgets in excess of $300 million. Dr. Fortenberry's programmatic responsibilities included undergraduate education as well as broadening access and participation in science and engineering at all levels by underrepresented populations and institutions.

Dr. Fortenberry served as Executive director of the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science, Inc. (The GEM Consortium) and was Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Director of Minority Engineering programs at Florida A&M University/Florida State University College of Engineering in Tallahassee, Florida. He attended MIT and was awarded the S.B., S.M., and Sc.D. degrees, all in mechanical engineering, with a specialty in applied mechanics and design.



Biography extract from Pathways To Science, March 2013, All Rights Reserved