Dr. Lesley Berhan is currently the Associate Dean for Student Success and Strategic Initiatives for the College of Engineering and an Associate Professor in the department of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering (MIME) at The University of Toledo.  She received her B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine, Trinidad, her M.S. in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.  She joined the faculty of the MIME Department at the University of Toledo in 2004.

 After establishing a successful independent research program in solid mechanics in her early academic career, she made the decision post-tenure to shift the focus of her research to engineering education with a focus on broadening participation, access, and student success. She has received over $2M in research funding from the National Science Foundation in the Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (RIEF), Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM), and Racial Equity in STEM Education programs.

In addition to her NSF funded research in Engineering Education, she served as one of the co-PIs for the University of Toledo on the Student Experience Project (https://studentexperienceproject.org).  The Association of Public and Land Grant Universities’ (APLU) Student Experience Project (SEP) involved six universities and several learning partners. The mission of the SEP was to “transform the college student experience and create equitable learning environments through innovative, evidence-based practices that increase degree attainment.”  In addition to my SEP involvement, she has always been a strong proponent for effective teaching through the use of evidence-based strategies to improve classroom instruction at my university.

As the Associate Dean for Student Success and Strategic Initiatives, she leads the development and execution of initiatives and programs to facilitate the recruitment, retention, and success of all students including women, students from groups traditionally underrepresented in engineering, and first generation students.  These duties are well aligned with her current research interests and external funding in engineering education and workforce development. She also serves as the university’s representative on several state, regional, and national organizations including the Ohio Space Grant Consortium (OSGC), and the EngPLUS Midwest Regional (MWR) Hub. She was one of the authors of the ASEE and SEFI joint statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion published in 2020 (https://diversity.asee.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/ASEE-SEFI_DEIStatement.pdf), and was one of three individuals selected to serve as a report reviewer for the NAE workshop proceedings “Connecting Efforts to Support Minorities in Engineering Education” https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/27238/chapter/1.