We were teenagers from various areas of the country, e.g., Chicago, North Carolina, Chicago, New Jersey, Ohio, and we met at Howard University — excited to study engineering. We studied together, had fun together, and eventually earned PhDs from Virginia Tech, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UC Berkeley, and Texas […]
Thank you to the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES) for inviting me to be a speaker for this morning’s webinar on Global Engagement in Diversity. Our leaders and panelists were Dr. Christina White, Dr. David Delaine, and Dr. Stephanie Farrell. Here are a few of the […]
Being at the White House and contributing to President Obama’s initiatives in STEM such as the “My Brother’s Keeper STEM+” and STEM Inclusion Conference in 2016 have been among the highlights of my career. I sincerely thank Dr. Marvin Carr and Dr. Quincy Brown for providing the opportunities […]
It is an honor and a privilege to be named the 2016 winner of the Claire Felbinger Award for Diversity from ABET. Thank you to all who nominated me, and thank you for finding value in my work. I also thank all of the people who help me […]
This past week, our contingent from the University System of Maryland participated in international meetings that were part of the Latin and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions in Costa Rica. Our full agenda with the pre-conference activities, student forum, and the blog posts that accompanied the event can […]
My husband, Dr. Damon Tull, and I are pleased to announce that our paper with co-authors Shawnisha Hester and physicist Dr. Anthony Johnson, Dark Matters: Metaphorical Black Holes that Affect Ethnic Underrepresentation in Engineering, is now available to the public. It can be downloaded in its entirety from ResearchGate, here. […]
The scene is the “after-discussion” that followed the 2016 PROMISE Research Symposium. We were a group of women – black and hispanic, part of the STEM enterprise. Among us were tiers of mentors and mentees of different levels. We were sharing … there were questions, and answers. We […]
During the Southern Regional Education Board’s (SREB) 2015 Institute For Teaching and Mentoring/Compact for Faculty Diversity, Dr. Christine Grant and I presented a session entitled, Mentoring Graduate Students of Color, to full room of faculty and administrators. It was an interactive session where good information was shared, and we also […]
“What do you do if you’re too nervous?” This question was asked on Saturday in response to my charge to build relationships with professors during the GEM GRAD Lab at Stony Brook University in Long Island, NY. I hear this question often, and regularly work with students so […]
Today, I am in Colorado, where I worked with my colleagues from UMBC and PR to present the “Think Big” discussion on engaging diverse women in STEM in international research efforts, as part of the 2015 WEPAN (Women in Engineering ProActive Network) conference. Parts of the conversation are […]
My name, Renetta, means “reborn” and persistence is a core value that was taught in my household. My parents, fueled by their faith, always taught my brothers and I that there was a divine plan for our lives (based on Old and New Testament teachings), and therefore we […]
Greetings! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for my safe arrival. Things are going well here in Dubai where I am participating as a chair for the “Women in Engineering, Partnerships & Professional Development” session on Friday 5 Dec. at the World Engineering Education Forum, and co-presenting a […]
This past weekend, I had a delegation of approximately 25 graduate students and postdocs at the 2014 SREB Compact for Faculty Diversity/Institute for Teaching and Mentoring in Atlanta. I had a session on mentoring faculty who will in turn mentor students, with my colleague, Dr. Christine Grant. Sunday’s […]
On September 18, 2014, I had the honor of participating on a panel for The Atlantic LIVE A New America: Empowering Hispanic Millennials for Tech Leadership, Washington, District of Columbia. My comments focused on access to STEM education, particularly at the graduate level. http://www.theatlantic.com/live/events/new-america5/2014/ This 2-hour program had three […]
PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP has posted the introduction to the “When Faculty Say X …” seminar at UMBC. This video was initially designed to introduce a seminar, one that I would typically moderate in person. Students have asked me to answer some of the questions via video. This introductory […]
Although my sessions at mentoring sessions at MIT have been taped for the last few years, the plan to have a mentoring series came as a result of a complicated schedule. When I came to UMBC, I started the “When Faculty Say ‘X’ (They Really Mean ‘Y’)” seminar […]
Today, I had the wonderful opportunity to have a picture taken with a subset of my awesome team in my (not-so-neat) office and it reminded me of a recent request. I have been asked to present a list of my mentees! This is an exciting prospect and an […]
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had a chance to lead an international session on Women in STEM and Diversity (Mujeres en STEM y Diversidad) in Ecuador (Agenda – Broadening the STEM Research Participation of Women-URM-Disabilities), lead an international National Science Foundation delegation, and participate in a national […]
It was an honor and a privilege to lead the United States delegation to Ecuador for the National Science Foundation’s project on international engagement and broadening participation in engineering. Our group participated in the Foro Latinoamericano de Estudiantes sobre Educación en Ingeniería (FLEEI) for engineering students which was held at La […]
Over the last two weeks I’ve given a talk at MIT, had meetings at Harvard, and I’ve given a presentation and participated in a plenary panel at the International Forum of the American Society of Engineering Education conference (ASEE) (My talk was titled “Bringing Women in STEM to […]
It has been a great pleasure to be a Co-PI for the ADVANCE Hispanic Women in STEM project in Puerto Rico. Last week, we had a poster presentation at the National Science Foundation’s annual ADVANCE PI meeting, and then we had the ADVANCE Hispanic Women in STEM Workshop […]
I’ve been enjoying my visit to South America, and I thank my colleagues in the Latin and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions (LACCEI) for designating me to be the lead for their Women in STEM initiative, which will cover Central and South America. It is a great honor! […]
This weekend, I enjoyed participating in two events: 1) “Primer foro sobre publicaciones academicas de la Universidad Metropolitana” with faculty (I served on the panel, and listened to outcomes from a PROMISE workshop that we gave in PR in May. and 2) Research Symposium for Students, sponsored by […]
This week, I had a chance to join colleagues Dr. Melanie Harrison (NOAA in California), Sara Xayarath Hernandez (Director of Diversity Programs for the College of Engineering at Cornell University, and winner of a US Presidential Award for Mentoring), and Dr. Ashanti Johnson (Executive Director for the Institute […]
It was my pleasure to give the opening remarks for the “Sharing STEM” session at the Women in Public Service Project (WPSP) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Thank you to all of the speakers, and to our session co-chairs from UMass Lowell and San Francisco State University. […]
A few years ago, I wrote a post about the joy of having mentees who can surpass you. The joy continues! On Tuesday, I had a chance to meet with a mentee, Dr. Frances Carter-Johnson at MIT. We’d started a meeting in Virginia at the Society of STEM Women […]
I am honored to be a speaker for the U.S. News STEM Solutions conference in Austin, TX on June 18, 2013. Our panel just had a conference call to prepare for next week, and I’ve learned that we will be the only group talking about holistic support systems […]
When you’re in high school, you’re thinking about fun, friends, fun, preparing for the real world, fun, preparing to get a job one day, and oh, did I say fun? In high school, I was serious about my classes, and I was on the college-prep track, but I […]
It was my great pleasure to meet and work with researchers and students at Purdue University as they launched their “Mentoring at Purdue (MAP)” program, sponsored by the USDA. This program, held at the end of January, was sponsored by the College of Agriculture, and the Principal Investigators, […]
Today is the last day of the semester and I am still meeting with students, going over evaluations, and helping them plan for the next stages of their programs. I love what I do, but today served as a reminder for why I do what I do. I […]
This afternoon I gave a talk on social media at the Sloan Director’s meeting as part of the 2102 SREB Compact for Faculty Diversity/Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in Tampa, Florida. Earlier this week, I also discussed social media with administrators at Cornell. Both talks reminded me that […]
We’ve just concluded the first ADVANCE Hispanic Women in STEM Networking Conference in Puerto Rico, which brought together women faculty in science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines from across the island. It was a wonderful experience! I helped to co-found the conference with my colleagues from Universidad Metropolitana […]
Thank you for the outpouring of support regarding our short paper on the “Success Equation.” This information has been presented at the following venues: MIT MSRP Summer Research Dinner, Boston, June 2012 UMBC Summer Success Institute, Baltimore, August 2012 Ana G. Mendez System Research Symposium Dinner, San Juan, […]
Today at LACCEI in Panama, I facilitated part of a session on diversity and partnerships. It was a good session and one that generated passionate discussion about engaging students in professional development activities. I was at the university for most of the day. Tonight at dinner, I was […]
Yesterday I arrived in Panamá, and this afternoon I gave the first of two talks at the 2012 Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions (LACCEI – Consorcio Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Escuelas de Ingeniería.) This is the home of one of our PROMISE: […]
This morning, my husband and I were talking about my upcoming day as a co-facilitator for the PROMISE Dissertation House (co-sponsored by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP and The Graduate School at UMBC) and the numbers of students who are even calling my cell phone to ask if they can participate […]
Today, my UMBC co-author Autumn Reed presented our paper on strategies for recruiting, training, and transitioning postdoctoral scholars to career based on our experiences with NSF’s ADVANCE at UMBC and the PROMISE AGEP in Maryland. The paper was part of the WEPAN 2012 conference in Columbus, Ohio. Here […]
Although death is a part of life, it’s still hard to believe that my friend, LaMont Toliver is not with us on earth anymore. As the Director of UMBC’s Meyerhoff Scholars program, and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education, LaMont was a “Peer Mentor” for me … more like […]
This quote came from the director of a graduate fellowship program during his talk to potential graduate students this morning! I am in Minnesota at the AISES conference and I gave a talk a this morning to undergrads in STEM fields from across the nation about preparing for […]
This past weekend, my Graduate Assistants and I were in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the Ana G. Mendez University System Research Symposium. I’ve been to Puerto Rico before since I regularly work with faculty, staff, and students from the universities on the island. However, this was the […]
I have the wonderful opportunity to speak with students around the country, and this post is both written for and inspired by them. Sometimes I meet students who are experiencing their first summer internship, or participating in their first research assignment, and my eyes widen when they say […]
I sincerely thank all of my students and colleagues for their support over the years. Many have been asking for my speaking and events schedule for the next few months. Here are the dates that I have on my calendar. March 2011: I enjoyed speaking at the National […]
This year, I wrote so many recommendation letters that I decided to put these “tips” into an online post so that I don’t have to continue to type my “list” into emails. These are the things that I need to have from you when I contemplate or agree to […]
It’s a new year and it’s a great time to remind yourself of what you can and will do. Now is a great time to dismiss the “I can’t” thoughts and to be motivated by a plan that includes several definitive “I will” statements. To increase your level […]
My business is higher education and with so many reports out about people not being able to find jobs, imagine the joy that I feel in being able to announce that my campus is hiring both faculty and postdocs! You see, I spend days and nights training undergrads […]
This “Travel” season is unlike any other! I’ve been blessed to be invited to speak at a number of schools and conferences about graduate school admissions and retention, and this year, I’m a programming consultant with the GEM GRAD Labs (Getting Ready for Advanced Degrees). At a recent […]
It was after 5 on Friday, yesterday, when a colleague and I were still talking about the successes from her summer research program, and the things that we would need to do to support new and continuing students for Fall 2010. It was after 5:30 on Friday, yesterday, […]
This week, I am sharing time with the Dissertation House at the University of Maryland College Park. College Park provides participants with breakfast and afternoon refreshments as well as dining cards for meals that can be used at any of the campus’ eating establishments. I was happy and […]
It has been a pleasure to have students say “I want to be like you” or “I want to have a job like yours.” I’ve been blessed to have a job that I love and that I can shape. I feel that I’ve been given a vision and […]
Our Dissertation House in Maryland has officially opened the Summer 2010 season. Today, we invite all doctoral students, anywhere in the world, to join us online for the 2010 Summer Challenge. This invitation is being offered to provide doctoral students with an online community for working on their […]
The time has come to update both my personal websites and websites that I’ve developed for Grad Student activities. First up — Facebook. We’ve transitioned from a “group” to a “page.” Join us … “Like” us! http://www.facebook.com/PROMISEagep. Next, we’ll have updated website information for Success Seminars, PROF-it (Professors-in-Training), […]
Dear Students, I write this because I genuinely feel love for you; and when you’re hurt, I’m sad. I am asking, begging, imploring you to follow the advice of professors and mentors who take the time to give you advice, work out situations that will help you, and […]
Each year, through PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP, we take a group of 100 from UMBC, UM College Park, and UM Baltimore on a winter community building retreat. This year, we also had alums and postdocs from NIH, the UM College of Medicine, and other universities and agencies. The annual […]
This past week was filled with lots of hard work, a measure of stress, a measure of relief, and moments of fun! In all, I think that it was quite balanced! We had a huge set of meetings at UMET that was similar to a mini-conference but we […]
Hello everyone, This was a busy week, and I have lots of photos! So, I’m going to keep the dialog to a minimum, and just describe the pictures. Here are some photos of my neighborhood. I went to the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras on Friday, […]
A few years ago, I took a 9 month course called “Master Life.” In that class, administered through my church, we were taught to frame our view of our life through the lens of (life of) Christ. One of the main concepts was understanding that you have a […]
Renetta Garrison Tull - Living Life Online 