Walter Lee
· ProfessorVirginia Tech · Engineering Education
Active 1935–2026
Academic metrics are sourced from OpenAlex and public funding records; values may differ from Google Scholar.
About
Walter Lee, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech and serves as the interim executive director for the Center for Engineering Excellence and Discovery (CEED). His research is committed to exploring, understanding, and elevating the lived experiences of engineers, engineering students, and prospective engineering students. Through his work, he aims to advance the support of engineers and engineering students as they navigate existing work and learning environments, educate engineering students and faculty about the relevance of social issues to engineering work and practices, empower engineers who wish to innovate through the application of engineering tools and processes, and transform engineering education by providing students with the tools they need to be prepared for the ever-changing workforce landscape. Dr. Lee holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Clemson University, an M.S. in Industrial & Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech, and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech. His career vision is to be a driving force in the national effort to ensure that institutions provide students, regardless of their personal background, with the necessary support to succeed in engineering.
Research topics
- Computer Science
- Engineering
- Artificial Intelligence
- Political Science
- Sociology
- Machine Learning
- Knowledge management
- Psychology
- Engineering ethics
- Law
Selected publications
Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering · 2020 · 36 citations
Trends in broadening participation of African Americans in engineering and computer science have not significantly improved despite significant investments and efforts of educators, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers. Given the lack of progress, it is imperative for the field of engineering education to synthesize and use insights from existing literature to readjust its strategy for addressing this persistent problem. Unfortunately, the work that has been done in this area is fragment…
2024-02-13 · 22 citations
articleOpen accessOver the last 40 years, more than 25 national reports have been published focused on broadening participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).Although scholarly literature oftentimes serves as one source of information on how to move toward parity with national demographics, national reports-produced by organizations, such as the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and committees, such as the Committee on Women in S…
Unnecessarily Complicated: An Examination of Information Asymmetry in the Transfer Process
2024-02-13 · 9 citations
articleOpen accessAbstract Keywords: Transfer, Engineering, 2 Year Institution, 1st Generation The Engineer of 2020 (National Academy of Engineering, 2004) calls for the engineering discipline to broaden participation of underrepresented minority (URM), first-generation, and low income students in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce. Research that examines expanding access into engineering bachelor's degree programs increasingly acknowledges the critical role of community colleges as lo…
2024-02-13 · 6 citations
articleOpen accessAbstract The drive for broader participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has resulted in a growing interest in out-of-class programs that bring enriching educational experiences to children from ethnic and racial groups that are traditionally underrepresented, particularly children from low-income households. Ideally, such programs would have clear strategies for recruiting students from low-income communities, thereby minimizing barriers to participation, such as…
Education Sciences · 2024-03-10 · 4 citations
articleOpen access1st authorGraduate education in engineering is an extremely challenging, complex entity that is difficult to change. The purpose of this exploratory research paper was to investigate the applicability of the Collective Impact framework, which has been used within community organizing contexts, to organize the change efforts of a center focused on advancing equitable graduate education within engineering. We sought to understand how the conditions of Collective Impact (i.e., common agenda, backbone organiz…
Recent grants
NSF · $281k · 2017–2020
NSF · $600k · 2020–2026
NSF · $257k · 2017–2021
Frequent coauthors
- 334 shared
David B. Knight
Pennsylvania State University
- 123 shared
Dustin Grote
Clemson University
- 87 shared
Alexandra Strong
Florida International University
- 87 shared
Bevlee Watford
Virginia Tech
- 86 shared
Cheryl Bodnar
Rowan University
- 85 shared
Jeremi London
Vanderbilt University
- 82 shared
Allison Godwin
Purdue University West Lafayette
- 81 shared
Courtney Smith‐Orr
The University of Texas at El Paso
Labs
Education
- 2015
PhD, Engineering Education
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- 2013
M.S., Industrial & Systems Engineering
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- 2010
B.S., Industrial Engineering
Clemson University
Awards & honors
- NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award…
- Outstanding Mentor Award (College of Engineering), Virginia…
- 20 High-achieving Researchers and Educators under 40, PRISM…
- Outstanding New Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech College o…
- Outstanding Young Alumni, Clemson College of Engineering, Co…
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