Women & Philanthropy has a pooled fund in the ASU Foundation to provide funding in support of advancing ASU as a New American University. Funds support initiatives and programs that help fulfill the vision of excellence, access and impact.
Women & Philanthropy offers a Category A grant which funds one grant in the amount of $100,000 to a program that emphasizes one or more of the guiding principles of the New American University–academic excellence, broad access, and meaningful, positive impact on the economic, social, cultural and environmental health of the diverse communities we serve.
The 2012 recipient of this grant is the Motivated Engineering Transfer Students (METS) program, administered by Mary Anderson-Rowland, associate professor of industrial engineering in the Fulton Schools of Engineering.
About METS
The METS program provides engineering and computer science community college transfer students a solid platform of workshops, mentoring, a study center with computer and printing access, and a variety of student resources and events to enhance students’ transition to ASU. The METS Center and its resources offer transfer students a successful transition into university life and to obtaining a four-year engineering/computer science degree.
About Mary Anderson-Rowland
Anderson-Rowland received her B.A. in mathematics from Hope College in 1961, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Iowa in 1963 and 1966, respectively. Anderson-Rowland came to ASU in 1966 as a lecturer in mathematics, later serving as an assistant professor of engineering from 1974 to 1979.
She served as a statistical consultant to a variety of industry from 1973 to 1995, when she became the first woman appointed as an associate dean in Engineering. Anderson-Rowland has served in a variety of administrative appointments including assistant to the Dean in the College of Liberal Arts, graduate student coordinator, associate chair for industrial and management systems engineering and associate dean of Student and Business Affairs.
Anderson-Rowland has been heavily involved in the creation of the Women in Engineering Program as well as the Minority Engineering Program. She serves as a mentor for women engineers as well as supporting research that increases the recruitment, enrollment and retention of women engineering students. Anderson-Rowland has been the recipient of the following awards and recognitions:
- New Fellow, American Society for Engineering Education, 2001.
- YMCA Tribute to Women Award in 2001: Research and Science.
- University Achievement in Gender Equity Progress Award, ASU Faculty Women’s Association.
- The first annual ASU Pleiades Award for service to women.
- Distinguished Engineering Educator, Society of Women Engineers, 2002.
- National Engineering Award, American Association of Engineering Societies, 2003.
