Phone:	781-292-2370
Fax:	781-292-2380
Email:	sherra.kerns@olin.edu
Homepage:	http://faculty.olin.edu/~skerns

Dr. Sherra E. Kerns joined Olin College as Founding Vice President for Innovation and Research on September 1, 1999 and pioneered a unique administrative position with responsibility for enhancing faculty intellectual vitality, assessment, and building a culture that rewards innovation, learning by discovery and the taking of appropriate risks. She also led the successful Olin efforts for regional and professional accreditation, completed in 2007. On September 1, 2007, she became a F.W. Olin Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the College.

She was named Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for her technical accomplishments in designing computers for use in space. These computers are immune to information disruption by the harsh cosmic ion and space weapons environments. She is recipient of the IEEE's prestigious Millennium Medal, and has received institutional and national awards for outstanding undergraduate teaching. She has been very active internationally in engineering education, serving as President of the National Electrical Engineering Department Heads Association (now ECEDHA) and President of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). She was named Fellow of the ASEE for her contributions to progressive leadership in engineering education. Dr. Kerns also served as a member of the advisory committee of the National Academy of Engineering's Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education and on its study committee for the Engineer of 2020 report. She has also served on the ABET Board of Directors - where her work focused on international educational issues and diversity - and on the Dartmouth College Thayer School Board of Overseers and other non-profit boards.

Dr. Kerns came to Olin from Vanderbilt University, where she held various posts, including Chair of its flagship Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Director of the multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional University Consortium for Research on Electronics in Space – then one of the largest research programs in the nation.

Dr. Kerns' present research involves developing resources to detect transport of nuclear materials utilizing innovative microelectronic materials and processing. She works nationally and internationally to aid reform in undergraduate engineering education. Dr. Kerns received her A.B. from Mount Holyoke College, M.A. from the University of Wisconsin, and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, all in physics. Her philanthropy is directed toward furthering opportunities for students during their college years.