Johns Hopkins University’s Diversity Leadership Council recently honored the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering with a Diversity Recognition Award. The award recognizes the department’s overall commitment to fostering an inclusive, diverse, and welcoming environment for faculty, staff, and students, as well as for their efforts to create transparent reporting on the department’s progress in these areas in ways that both ensure accountability and can help guide the department’s future efforts.
Diversity Champion, Jamie Spangler, and Department Head, Paulette Clancy, are committed to creating and maintaining an environment in which all individuals can fully contribute is not only the responsibility of every member of the community, but also benefits all. Clancy stated, “Our commitment to diversity and inclusivity relates directly to our commitment to excellence in research and education and our ability to make an impact on the world.”
The department has launched a number of initiatives, including some related to recruiting graduate students from underrepresented minority groups, such as creating research and educational partnerships with students and faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and identifying and securing external funding to support recruitment efforts. “Diverse representation at all levels is vital to the mission of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department and the institution as a whole,” said Spangler.
Clancy feels the Diversity Recognition Award is particularly meaningful because it represents the efforts of everyone in ChemBE, saying that: “Our ability make meaningful progress will rely on the commitment of our entire community.”