ABET NSF BELONG Summit

Speakers

• Dr. Michael K. J. Milligan

  

  East Coast and West Coast Summit

  Michael K. J. Milligan is CEO and Executive Director of ABET. He is responsible for all aspects of ABET global operations, representing 35 technical and professional societies.

  Prior to joining ABET, Milligan held various positions in government and academia, including 24 years in the U.S. Air Force.  He served as associate professor and deputy department head in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the U.S. Air Force Academy, and later worked at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

  He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, his master’s from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and bachelor’s from Michigan State University. Milligan also holds an MBA from Western New England College and is a Certified Association Executive.  He is a senior member of IEEE, a member of Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu engineering honor societies and a registered Professional Engineer in Colorado and Maryland.

• Dr. Sarah A. Rajala

  

  East Coast and West Coast Summit

  Sarah Rajala served as the 12th dean of the College of Engineering at Iowa State University from 2013 – 2019. She led the largest college on campus and was responsible for more than 9,500 students, 500 faculty and staff, 12 academic majors, multiple research centers and programs, and 11 buildings that comprise the engineering complex. Rajala earned her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Michigan Technological University and master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Rice University.

  Rajala had a distinguished career as a professor and center director prior to moving into administrative positions. In recognition of the impact of her numerous contributions, she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 2022 for “innovations in engineering education: outcomes assessment, greater participation and retention of women in engineering, and an enhanced global community.” Previously, she was elected Fellow of AAAS, ABET, ASEE and IEEE. Among her many awards, Rajala received the ASEE Sharon Keillor Award for Women in Engineering in 2020; the IEEE Award for Meritorious Achievement in Accreditation Activities in 2017; the National Engineer of the Year Award by the American Association of Engineering Societies in 2016; the IEEE Hewlett Packard Harriett B. Rigas Award in 2015, and was named the Phi Kappa Phi National Scholar Award, 2010-2012.

  Rajala has been an active participant and leader in engineering accreditation for over 20 years. She is a program evaluator for IEEE and served on the ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission for 11 years, participating in program reviews both domestically and internationally. She served as team chair for one of the largest visits ABET has conducted at a single institution, evaluating 23 engineering programs with 27 team members. In total, these visits have impacted nearly 200 different academic programs. During her service on the EAC and the EAC ExCom, her roles included Chair of the Materials Committee, Chair of the Nominating Committee, Chair of the Consistency Committee, Editor 1, Editor 2, Vice-Chair of Operations, Chair-Elect, Chair, Past Chair and a member of the Accreditation Council.

• Dr. Keri Ann Sather-Wagstaff

  

  East Coast and West Coast Summit

  Dr. Sather-Wagstaff is in her third year as a rotating Program Director at National Science Foundation (NSF) focused on sustainable, systemic change around intersectional gender equity as Co-Lead Program Director of the ADVANCE program: Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions. She also works on intersectional racial equity as Lead Program Director of the AGEP program. She is a Professor of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at Clemson University, an award-winning researcher, instructor, mentor, and DEIA practitioner with expertise around intersectionality, racial justice, gender equity, disability/accessibility, and LGBTQIA+ issues.