John K. Estell, professor of computer engineering and computer science at Ohio Northern University, has been elected to the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Board of Directors. He will serve a three-year term beginning this June as the chair of Professional Interest Council III, which consists of 14 out of a total of 56 ASEE divisions.
This selection positions Estell as a leader in the engineering education field. ASEE, which has more than 12,000 members, includes five professional interest council chairs, of which Estell is now one.
The five ASEE professional interest councils are responsible for:
Providing a formal organizational structure to promote, encourage and facilitate activities pertaining to their areas of interest;
Providing forums for discussion and exchange of information about problems and experiences;
Coordinating the professional interests of individual members and speaking on their behalf;
Establishing and maintaining a liaison with other organizations concerned with these areas of interest.
“It is exciting to see John receive the broad support from ASEE members to be elected to this office” said John-David “J-D” Yoder, dean of the ONU T.J. Smull College of Engineering. “This is an indication of the recognition and respect our faculty earn for the terrific work they do in and out of the classroom. In this role, John will interact with other leaders in engineering education, and he can share these insights with ONU students and faculty. This will help us stay at the forefront of high-impact educational experiences that prepare our students for success in their careers.”
Estell has been a member of ASEE since 1993 and was elected in 2016 as a Fellow in recognition of the breadth, richness and quality of his contributions to the betterment of engineering education. He has previously held leadership positions within ASEE as chair of both the First-Year Programs and Computers in Education divisions and has received multiple ASEE Annual Conference best paper awards. Estell received the ASEE First-Year Programs Division’s Distinguished Service Award in 2019.
“I definitely owe a big ‘thank you’ to all of my deans here at Northern who have fully supported my participation in ASEE over the last 19 years. From my earliest days as a professor, ASEE has helped to shape my career and grow as an educator. The knowledge gained through ASEE-related conference attendance and research collaborations has had a considerable impact on both my teaching and our engineering curricula. In my new role, I look forward to promoting ASEE’s vision of a future with excellent and broadly accessible education empowering engineering professionals to create a better world, as well as bringing those corresponding educational advancements in research, innovation, excellence and access back both to my classroom and to my colleagues.”
Estell earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Toledo, and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.