School of Engineering Director and Professor of Software Engineering Dr. Carol Wellington has been honored for her impact in science, technology, engineering and math.

The Shippensburg University professor received the Legacy “WhitaHER” Award at the Whitaker Center’s Women of Impact: Celebrating Women in STEM Awards Luncheon. The award honors a woman with a track record of long-term achievements and accomplishments in STEM who has also proven to be a superior leader.

Wellington fits the award description well given her over 30 years of work that has included predicting if chemicals cause cancer in rodents and developing telecommunications software that provides redundancy for 911 systems. She also earned a software patent in 1987.

Shippensburg University’s School of Engineering, approved in 2018, is a far cry from the computer science program Wellington joined when her career began at Ship in 1997. Her expertise and leadership have been integral to a transformation that has resulted in five engineering program offerings. Students she mentors find themselves gaining actual engineering experience well before graduation and consistently shaking hands with those at Deloitte, NASA, Volvo and more.

Beyond positive changes to curriculum and teaching strategy during her time at Ship, Wellington has worked in many other ways to champion the success of her students. One example is Women in Computer Science & Engineering, a club that brings women together to assist them in furthering their skills and knowledge. She is also the director of the BROADSIDE Center, which connects students and faculty with local industrial partners in need of software and hardware.

The awards luncheon took place on September 12 at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg.