2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Service, Growth, and Leadership: Faculty Journeys in ASEE Divisions

Presented at FDD and LEAD Joint Technical Session

This paper examines the motivations, perspectives, and experiences of engineering faculty who have held leadership roles in ASEE divisions. The literature suggests that faculty often elect to serve in academic societies or organizations to network, enhance professional reputation, and increase likelihood of academic promotion. However, there is little examination of the service itself. For example, there is little study concerning the duration of service or if faculty members have opted to seek out leadership positions within the organization. Further, the literature is devoid of discussion concerning how the faculty members’ service impacted their leadership style and abilities. In this paper, leadership models are explored among participating divisions to gain a better understanding of leadership development and longevity within ASEE. Engineering faculty who served or are currently serving on ASEE divisions’ leadership are surveyed. Factors such as member retention, career stages of leadership, and team dynamics are examined and mapped according to career stage, roles, and institutions. Quantitative and qualitative analysis are performed on survey data. Results from this analysis highlight the motivation, value and benefits as well as the challenges to taking on a leadership role in ASEE and can be useful for faculty considering service opportunities and leadership positions within ASEE, for ASEE division leadership in improving their own leadership models, and for administrators assessing professional development and service activities of their faculty. Submission Type: Research

Authors

Dr. Shannon L. Isovitsch Parks P.E. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8479-1756 University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown [biography]

Dr. Shannon Parks is a registered Professional Engineer with over 20 years of broad-based experience in the water resources and environmental engineering fields. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University and a Masters of Science and doctoral degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. She is currently teaching water resources and environmental engineering at University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. Prior to joining University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Dr. Parks’ worked in the manufacturing industry focusing on development and commercialization of sustainable wastewater treatment and solid waste reuse technologies. Dr. Parks also has experience working as a consultant to government agencies, municipalities, and industrial clients performing water resources engineering design and permitting. In addition to her corporate experience, Dr. Parks served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali, West Africa, supporting a local Non-Governmental Organization on water sanitation projects.
Dr. Alexa Rihana Abdallah University of Detroit Mercy [biography]

Alexa Rihana Abdallah is a professor and chair of Civil, Archtectural and Environmental Engineering at the University of Detroit Mercy. She received her PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan. rihanaa@udmercy.edu
Dr. Fethiye Ozis http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1484-8961 Carnegie Mellon University [biography]

Dr. Fethiye Ozis, Associate Teaching Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at CMU, holds a B.S. in environmental engineering from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA. She is a licensed Professional Engineer (Environmental) in Arizona and an ENVISION Sustainability Professional. Formerly at Northern Arizona University and University of Southern California, Dr. Ozis is known for innovative and inclusive teaching. She enjoys every dimension of being an engineering educator, and teaches across the curriculum from first year to graduate level courses in environmental engineering. Her own intersectionality led to her passion for researching pathways into engineering for underrepresented minorities. Beyond academia, Dr. Ozis indulges in mentorship, guiding students to academic and professional success. She has mentored numerous undergraduate students to develop proposals and pursue award winning research on novel biotechnologies for sustainable water and wastewater treatment. Her community engagement and service reflect her commitment to societal impact. She has been an ASCE ExCEEd (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) Fellow since 2016, and currently serves as a mentor. She is also a mentor for Engineering for One Planet (EOP) under the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Mini Grant Program. Dr. Ozis earned multiple teaching, research, and service awards from Northern Arizona University and the American Society for Engineering Education.
Dr. David V.P. Sanchez http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7398-3130 University of Pittsburgh [biography]

David V.P. Sanchez is an Associate Professor in the Swanson School of Engineering’s Civil & Environmental Engineering department and the Associate Director for the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation at the University of Pittsburgh. He was appointed a Provost Faculty Fellow in 2025. He serves on the ASEE-Engineering for One Planet Advisory Board, the Board for the Environmental Engineering Division, and as Past-Chair for the North Central section.

At Pitt, he serves as the Program Director for the Master’s in Sustainable Engineering, the Undergraduate Certificate in Sustainability, and the John C. Mascaro Faculty Fellows. He is the faculty co-lead for the University Honors College Happiness and Human Flourishing Scholar Community.

His research lab, Sustainable Design Labs, focuses on fusing analytical chemistry, sustainability design principles and data analytics to address Water and Sustainability grand challenges. Current thrusts focus on metal-organic frameworks to detect and remediation PFAS-metal mixturs.

Focused on co-creating long term partnerships that synergize community vision with Pitt’s core competencies of research and education, Sanchez has built up Constellation Energy Inventor labs for K-12 students, re-created the Mascaro Center’s Teach the Teacher sustainability program for science educators in the region, and has worked for 5 years in Appalachia in PA (Fayette County).

As a teacher he designed and created the Sustainability capstone course which has annually partnered with community stakeholders to address sustainability challenges at all scales. Past projects have included evaluating composting stations in Wilkinsburg, studying infrastructure resilience in Homewood, enabling community solar in PA, improving energy efficiency in McCandless Township, and improving water quality in our rivers. He teaches core Sustainability courses, labs in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department, electives in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program, the First-Year Engineering program, and International Study Abroad programs.
Lt. Col. Andrew Ross Pfluger P.E. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6960-2075 United States Military Academy [biography]

Colonel Andrew Pfluger, U.S. Army, is an Associate Professor and Academy Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at the United States Military Academy. He currently serves as the director of the Environmental Prog

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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