High-Impact Pedagogies that Motivate and Retain Students in STEM

Eliza Jane Reilly has over two decades of experience in the design and implementation of programs to advance curriculum, academic leadership and faculty development. Her past positions include Executive Director of the American Conference of Academic Deans (ACAD) and Director of Programs at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), where she was the first Program Director for the SENCER initiative. From 2003-2013 Eliza focused on campus-based faculty development and interdisciplinary curricula through the directorship of the Center for Liberal Arts and Society at Franklin & Marshall College, where she also had a faculty appointment in American Studies. In 2008 Eliza was appointed Director of the Phillips Museum at Franklin & Marshall. With a .5M grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, she developed exhibition and faculty development programs that engaged faculty and students from the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences and made the campus museum a laboratory for innovative curriculum. Eliza holds a MA in the History of Art and a Ph.D. in U.S. American History from Rutgers University. View Dr. Reilly's profile to read more.

Dr. Owolabi, P.E., joined the Morgan State University (MSU) faculty in the summer of 2010. He is the Director of the Sustainable Infrastructure Development, Smart Innovation and Resilient Engineering Research Laboratory as well as the Director of the Undergraduate Geotechnical Laboratory at the department of Civil Engineering. In 2020, he was the interim Associate Chair of the department of Civil Engineering. He has about 30 years of outstanding experience in practicing, teaching, and research in civil and transportation engineering. Dr. Owolabi earned his doctorate in civil and environmental engineering in 2007, from George Washington University as well as Masters in civil engineering (transportation engineering) from the prestigious Federal University of Technology, Akure Nigeria. He completed his Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the premier Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria in 1991. In 2019 under his leadership as the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) Accreditation Coordinator, he successfully led the department to attain another six-year accreditation cycle without any observation, concern, shortcoming, or deficiency being the first of such in the history of the department. Dr. Owolabi is also the recipient of the 2020 Morgan State University Outstanding Faculty Award for Excellence in Service. View Dr. Owolabi's profile to read more.