Read the full story by Syl Kacapyr in the Cornell Chronicle.

A newly endowed professorship at Cornell, made possible with a multimillion-dollar gift from George Stephen Irwin ’67, M.Eng. ’68, is dedicated to engineering education research.

The gift establishes the Dr. G. Stephen Irwin ’67, ’68 Professorship in Engineering Education Research in the Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. The endowment is part of a broader initiative aimed at recruiting and retaining faculty members who research how engineering students best learn and retain technical subjects, form identities as engineers and enter engineering career fields.

Allison Godwin, associate professor in the Smith School, will be the first to hold the professorship. Godwin joined the faculty in 2023 as an associate professor specializing in engineering identity development, practices for inclusive education and engineering workforce development. She was the first professor hired as part of the initiative to use discipline-based education research to enhance the learning experience of aspiring engineers.

“I’m grateful Dr. Irwin shares our vision for how engineering education can be transformed using scientific research principles,” said Lynden Archer, the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering. “This professorship places a spotlight on our commitment to support and celebrate members of our faculty committed to teaching excellence. Its impacts in elevating the quality of the engineering student experience will be profound and lasting.”