Dr. Mary Besterfield-Sacre is the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Nickolas A. DeCecco Professor in Industrial Engineering.  She is also the founding Director of the Engineering Education Research Center (EERC).  Mary has a B.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri – Rolla, a M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.  Her principal research is in engineering education assessment, funded by the NSF, Department of Ed, Sloan, EIF, and NCIIA. Regarding assessment, Dr. Sacre conducts primarily quantitative analyses and statistical modeling; this work is well-published in engineering education literature.  Dr. Sacre’s current research focuses on three distinct but highly correlated areas – innovative design and entrepreneurship, engineering modeling, and global preparedness in engineering. She has been awarded the WEPAN Betty Vetter Award for Research and the ASEE Sharon Keillor Award for Women in Engineering Education for her engineering education research. She also serves on the advisory board for the AEE Journal and is a Fellow of the ASEE.