Kennesaw State Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Dr. Renee Butler won 2020 Engineer of the Year in Education by the Georgia Society of Professional Engineers Tuesday, Jan. 21, according to KSU News.
“It’s really exciting, I’m very proud, very pleased and very honored for sure,” Butler said.
Butler said that her leadership at KSU helped her receive the honor she did.
“I served as department chair [of KSU’s Department of Systems and Mechanical Engineering], I took over as dean of the engineering program and took part in the transitional phase before hiring Ferguson,” Butler said. “I kept the college moving ahead of that time.”
As interim dean of KSU’s engineering college, Butler said that she — with the assistance of other department chairs — renewed the college’s Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology accreditation.
“[ABET accreditation] is the accreditation body for engineers and you can’t be a professional engineer without it,” Butler said.
Seven degree programs successfully completed the ABET accreditation under Butler, according to KSU News. Her efforts also resulted in increased funding of more than $1 million for the engineering college.
Butler said that she just began her position as associate dean and would like to succeed in that field. She said that she hopes to gain significant institutional knowledge while serving as dean.
This is not the first time Butler has been recognized for her accomplishments. In 2019, Butler was on the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s list for “Who’s Who in Education,” according to KSU News.
Butler was one of 11 people honored by the GSPE and said that she has been at KSU for 15 years.
This year is the fifth consecutive year a KSU faculty member, administration member or student has received an honor from the GPSE, according to KSU News.
