NPRE PhD students Sonata Valaitis and Yanqin Zhai have been selected to be Mavis Future Faculty Fellows for the 2021-22 academic year.
The Mavis Future Faculty Fellows (MF3) Academy is a one-year program for senior PhD students (who have passed their qualifying exam) to facilitate the training of the next generation of engineering faculty in research, teaching, and mentoring.
The Grainger College of Engineering is internationally recognized for the impact of our research and the strength of our graduate education. The doctoral programs that produce this reputation are primarily research-focused and may not provide students interested in academic careers with the opportunity to gain the knowledge of how to become a highly productive faculty member.
To help address this issue, the Office of Engineering Graduate, Professional and Online Programs facilitates the MF3 Academy where fellows participate in a series of workshops, seminars, and activities that cover various aspects of an academic career. Workshop themes include describing life as a faculty member, writing cover letters and CVs, preparing for campus interviews, and defining and achieving success as a faculty member. These workshops are available to all engineering graduate students.
The Mavis Future Faculty Fellows Program is made possible by a generous bequest of Frederic T. and Edith F. Mavis. Dr. Mavis received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois. He was a professor of Civil Engineering at several universities and was Dean of Engineering at the University of Maryland from 1957 until 1967. He died in 1983.
The endowment directs, per the donors wishes, that the fund shall be used for doctoral students in The Grainger College of Engineering who desire to become engineering faculty.