Bottomley honored by Virginia Tech as an outstanding alumna

Laura Bottomley, director of NC State’s Engineering Education program, has been honored by Virginia Tech’s Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering with induction into the department’s Academy of Distinguished Alumni.

Bottomley will join the academy by receiving one of the department’s Extraordinary Impact Awards. The department’s selection committee noted Bottomley’s outstanding work in promoting STEM education and her efforts to make engineering education more accessible and inclusive.

Bottomley earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering at Virginia Tech and a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from NC State.

Bottomley has steered creation of an Engineering Education program at NC State. The program is the first of its kind to be offered jointly by an engineering college and an education college, and the first to ground its program in inclusion and belonging for all students. The program is offering a master’s degree and is working toward University approval of a Ph.D. degree program.

Bottomley founded The Engineering Place, NC State’s K-20 engineering education and resource headquarters for exploring engineering and engineering education. She also founded the Women in Engineering Program and served as co-director of NC State’s Women and Minority Engineering Programs and is a senior advisor to the College of Engineering’s Office of Academic Affairs.

Bottomley is a Fellow of both the American Society for Engineering Education and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers. In 2000, she was among the College’s representatives as it received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM). In 2009, she received an individual PAESMEM for her mentoring and outreach efforts with the Women in Engineering and K-12 outreach programs.

The Bradley ECE Department offers Extraordinary Impact Awards annually to as many as two alumni “who have demonstrated an extraordinary and impactful accomplishment that improves people’s lives, especially when their life’s work represents intellectual integrity, informed ethical values, a focus on public service and demonstrated leadership.”

This post was originally published in College of Engineering News.