New hire to promote engineering education partnership between colleges of Engineering and Education at NC State

The Office of Academic Affairs and the Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education within the colleges of Engineering and Education, respectively, at North Carolina State University announce the hiring of Dr. Tameshia Ballard as teaching assistant professor and director of engineering education. Ballard began her new position Aug.16.

Ballard will provide leadership in initiatives that facilitate partnerships and collaboration among faculty in the two colleges.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Tameshia Ballard in this important role to bridge the two colleges,” said Dr. Jerome Lavelle, associate dean of academic affairs in the College of Engineering. “Collaborations in engineering education will boost opportunities for students, faculty and other constituents across the state and nation.”

Ballard’s research interests include assessment of student success programs for women and underrepresented minorities in STEM, K-12 educators’ self-efficacy in STEM, and retention, motivation, efficacy and persistence of first-year engineering students.

Prior to arriving at NC State, Ballard was a faculty member in the Department of Food Science at Purdue University, with a primary focus on educational scholarship in the area of food process engineering/food science.  She earned her bachelor’s degree in biological engineering from NC State in 2001. She received her master’s and doctoral degrees in biological systems engineering from Virginia Tech in 2003 and 2008, respectively.