Dr. Whitney Gaskins
Dr. Gaskins is the Associate Dean of Inclusive Excellence and Community Engagement in the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering and Applied Science, the only African-American female currently teaching in the faculty of the College of Engineering. Whitney earned her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering, her Masters of Business Administration in Quantitative Analysis and her Doctorate of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering/Engineering Education. In her role as Associate Dean, Dr. Gaskins has revamped the summer bridge program to increase student support and retention as well as developed and strengthened partnerships in with local area school districts to aid in the high school to college pathway. She serves as the Principal Investigator for both the Choose Ohio First Program (COF) and Ohio LSAMP grants. Through these grant programs the students receive competitive scholarship funding and professional development workshops which help prepare them to enter into the STEMM workforce.
In 2009, she founded The Gaskins Foundation, a non-profit organization, whose mission is to educate and empower the African American community. Her foundation recently launched the Cincinnati STEMulates year round K-12 program, which is a free of charge program that will introduce more students to Math and Science. She was named the 2017 K12 Champion by the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates (NAMEPA). In 2015, Dr. Gaskins was awarded the Janice A Lumpkin Educator of the Year Golden Torch Award. In 2019, she was recognized by the Greater Cincinnati Chamber as a Black History Maker. She was a recipient of the Dr. Terry Kershaw Faculty Excellence Award and the Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Cincinnati for her innovative honors course Sticky Innovation (stickyinnovation.com). She was inducted in the 40 under 40 class of 2019 and was recognized as a YWCA 2021 Career Woman of Achievement.
Awards & Honors
BVBJ Fellow, Black Voices for Black Justice 2021, April 2021
Career Woman of Achievement, YWCA, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 2021
Best Paper, Community Engagement Division, ASEE 2020 Virtual Conference, June 2020
Affirmed, Cincinnati Urban League, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 2020
Marian Spencer Equity Ambassador Award – Staff Winner, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 2020
Marian Spencer Equity Ambassador Award – Organization Winner, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 2020
Dr. Terry Kershaw Legacy and Social Justice Award, University of Cincinnati Black Faculty Association, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 2019
Excellence in Teaching Award, University Honors Program, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 2019
Greater Cincinnati Black History Maker, Cincinnati Regional Chamber, Cincinnati, Ohio, January 2019
Women of Color Trailblazer Award (CONCED), Crystal City, Virginia, April 2018
K-12 Champion (NAMEPA), September 2017
National Society of Black Engineers Educator of Year, 2016
Sigma Omega Leadership Award, 2014 & 2015
YWCA Rising Star, 2015
YMCA Adult Achievers, 2015
Who’s Who in Black Cincinnati, 2013 & 2014
National Society of Black Engineers Graduate Student
of the Year, 2014
University Graduate Scholar, 2013
My Sister Circle Shining Star Award, 2013
Graduate Engineering Education Consortium for
Students (GEECS) fellow, 2012
National Society of Black Engineers Executive Board
Member of the Year, 2012
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