Dean helps lead program for minorities in engineering

The dean of engineering at Mississippi State has been appointed to the board of directors of a regional consortium that encourages minorities to consider careers in engineering or science.

Dr. Robert Altenkirch will serve on the board of the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering, established in 1975 by the engineering deans at six Southeastern universities.

The organization offers two-week institutes on university campuses for secondary and middle school teachers.

The institutes teach new instructional techniques and offer information about career opportunities in engineering, mathematics, and science that educators can take back to their home schools.

Local school programs sponsored by the SECME usually have direct ties to the faculty at an engineering school as well as support from community organizations. The network now reaches almost 17,000 students in 375 local schools in the Southeast, working with 34 universities and 65 corporations.

The organization says 85 percent of participating high school and middle school students attend college.

Altenkirch, dean of engineering at Mississippi State since 1988, was named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1993. He was previously chairman of the mechanical engineering department at the University of Kentucky. He received his bachelor's and doctoral degrees from Purdue University and a master's from the University of California-Berkeley.