BOLD Center Staff
Dr. Jacquelyn Sullivan
Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence
Dr. Sullivan is associate dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder where she is responsible for recruitment and retention of women, minority and first-generation students attending engineering college through her leadership of the Broadening Opportunity for Leadership and Diversity (BOLD) Center, the GoldShirt Performance Enhancing Year Program and many other diversity-focused initiatives. She is founding co-director of the award-winning Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, focused on integrating hands-on engineering throughout the K-16 learning experience for ~4,200 undergraduate and 2,000 K-12 students annually.
She received her PhD in environmental health physics and aquatic toxicology from Purdue University and brought 14 years of industry engineering and leadership experience to the higher education environment. Sullivan leads the multi-institutional initiative that created TeachEngineering — an NSF-funded online, searchable, standards-based, digital library collection of K-12 engineering lessons and activities. Sullivan led the 2004 founding of ASEE’s K-12 and Precollege Engineering Division, served as a member of two recent NAE committees and served on the Engineering Directorate Advisory Committee at NSF. She is also a founding board member for the Denver Schools of Science and Technology.
She has published broadly, from Science magazine to NAE’s The Bridge. Dr. Sullivan received the 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award from the ASEE K-12 Engineering Division and received the 2008 NAE Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education.
Dr. Bev Louie
Director, Teaching and Learning Initiatives
beverly.louie@colorado.edu (303) 492-4967
Dr. Louie has been the Director of the Women in Engineering Program and a Senior Instructor in the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering. She received a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado (1977), an MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado (1983), and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Oxford University (1993). At CU-Boulder, she has taught GEEN 1400 (Engineering Projects), GEEN 1500 (Introduction to Engineering), CHEN 1300 (Introduction to Chemical & Biological Engineering) and CHEN 3130 and 4130 (Chemical Engineering Junior and Senior Lab).
In the BOLD Center, Dr. Louie’s focus is to increase the number of female students studying engineering at CU-Boulder, develop and implement engineering education initiatives and increase student performance and community-building through the addition of the Education Excellence Foundation (EEF)-sponsored Student Success Center and the new Women in Engineering Living and Learning Community. She works to broaden the peer and professional mentoring programs, to provide more professional development opportunities, and to develop more scholarships for female students. You are welcome to ask her about resources and opportunities that are currently available.
Dr. LaRuth McAfee
Director, Student Engagement & Community Building Programs
laruth.mcafee@colorado.edu (303) 492-8809
Dr. McAfee joined the BOLD Center in August 2009 as Director of Student Engagement and Community Building. In this position, she provides vision and leads in the development of academic and student support programs for the BOLD Center community. These include mentorship programs, support for the Andrews Hall Residential Academic Community, and oversight of cohort development for certain scholarship programs. Dr. McAfee oversees the BOLD Student Leadership Council and additionally co-teaches GEEN 1510 (Self-Management and Leadership) with Dr. Louie.
Dr. McAfee holds chemical engineering degrees from the University of Michigan (BSE) and MIT (PhD). Over the past few years, she has focused on engineering education, having spent a year doing a National Academy of Engineering-sponsored engineering education postdoc and three years as Executive Director for Education at a Science & Technology Center headquartered at Case Western Reserve University. Please do not hesitate to contact her to discuss preparing for graduate school or nontraditional careers in engineering.
Dr. Malinda Zarske
Director, K-12 Engineering Education
malinda.zarske@colorado.edu (303) 735-0987
Dr. Zarske is the Director of K-12 Engineering Education at the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. A former high school and middle school science and math teacher, she has advanced degrees in teaching secondary science from the Johns Hopkins University and in civil engineering from CU-Boulder. She oversees CU’s K-12 engineering initiatives, is a First-Year Engineering Projects Instructor, and on the development and editorial teams for the TeachEngineering digital library. She has also developed and co-taught grades 9-11 engineering elective courses, summer K-12 student classes, and teacher professional development through the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program. Malinda is very active in the K-12 engineering education arena nationally, currently serving on the executive board of the American Society of Engineering Education’s K-12 Division and collaborating on several other national K-12 teacher and engineering initiatives. Her primary research interests are on the impacts of project-based service-learning on student identity, recruitment, and retention in K-12 and undergraduate engineering.
Ms. Amanda Parker
Director, Access and Recruiting
amanda.s.parker@colorado.edu (303) 492-6876
As the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s Director of Access and Recruiting, Amanda works to provide pathways and support to prospective engineering students. Her focus, working in collaboration with the Office of Admissions, is to increase the number of underrepresented minority, women, first-generation college-bound, low-income and talented scholars pursuing engineering at our College.
Amanda is an alum of CU-Boulder, graduating in 2009 with a BS in Chemical Engineering. Feel free to contact her to talk about opportunities within the College.
Ms. Tanya Ennis
Director, GoldShirt Program
tanya.ennis@colorado.edu (303) 492-6473
Ms. Ennis is the Director of the GoldShirt Program, which provides underrepresented students access to engineering. Ms. Ennis believes that all students, regardless of their circumstance, are learners and have the creative capacity to achieve and exceed their goals, especially to become and thrive as engineers. She also serves as an Instructor for Preparatory Physics (PHYS 1000) and Introduction to Engineering Design (GEEN 1400).
As the mathematics department chair at the Denver School of Science and Technology, Ms. Ennis’ passion for teaching helped high school students of all backgrounds exceed math performance expectations. She received a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana an MS in Computer Engineering from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Ms. Ennis brings a wealth of knowledge from both her professional and educational experience when she teaches and advises CU engineering students.
She has extensive corporate experience in the telecommunications industry where she developed and implemented large-scale systems for AT&T, Bell Laboratories, U S WEST and Covad Communications.
Jessica Lanan
Communications and Event Planning Specialist
jessica.lanan@colorado.edu (303) 492-1761
Jessica Lanan is the communications and event planning specialist for the BOLD Center, and plays a key role in advertising and facilitating BOLD events and programs for diverse audiences. From developing BOLD Center publications and printed work to supporting the website and social networking, Jessica puts a face on the BOLD Center for the world.
Jessica is a Colorado native and received her BA in art from Scripps College. Feel free to contact her with questions about the website or any upcoming events.
Janet Yowell
K-12 Engineering Education Coordinator
janet.yowell@colorado.edu (303) 492-5230
Janet serves as the Associate Director of K-12 Engineering Education for the BOLD Center. Involved in the College’s outreach initiative since summer 2000, she collaborates with the BOLD Center’s ambitious K-12 engineering initiative, including their capacity-building and school partnership programs. She coordinates the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program’s NSF-funded TEAMS Program (Tomorrow’s Engineers… creAte. iMagine. Succeed.) which engages over 2000 K-12 students in engineering weekly throughout the academic year and is a contributing curriculum writer and editor for the TeachEngineering digital library.
Janet holds a BA in Communication from CU-Boulder and is currently pursuing a masters degree in Information and Learning Technology at CU-Denver. If you are interested in helping with any BOLD Center or ITL Program K-12 activities, please feel free to drop her an email.
Dr. Jana Milford
Faculty Advisor, GoldShirt Program
jana.milford@colorado.edu (303) 492-5542
Dr. Milford is the GoldShirt Faculty Advisor and has been involved in the program since its inception — playing a key role in the program development and implementation — from fundraising to student interviews. Her commitment to the program shows in her hands-on approach to student development in engineering, as evidenced by her popularity as an engineering professor.
Currently, Dr. Milford teaches photochemical air quality modeling, source apportionment of air pollution, air quality management courses at CU-Boulder. She holds a BS in Engineering Science from Iowa State University (1983), an MS in Civil Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (1985), a Ph.D. from the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University (1988), and a Law degree from CU-Boulder (2004).
