Sheri D. Sheppard (born 1956) is the Burton J. and Deedee McMurtry University Fellow in Undergraduate Education; Associate Vice Provost of Graduate Education; and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Curriculum,

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. She focuses her teaching on

engineering design The engineering design process, also known as the engineering method, is a common series of steps that engineers use in creating functional products and processes. The process is highly iterative – parts of the process often need to be repeat ...

for undergraduate and graduate students. In November 2014, the Carnegie Foundation bestowed on her the U.S. Professor of the Year award.

Early life and education

Sheppard graduated from

William Horlick High School William Horlick High School (also known as Horlick or Racine Horlick High School) is a comprehensive public four-year high school in Racine, Wisconsin with an enrollment of approximately 2,000 students. The school opened to students in 1928, after ...

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...

in 1974 and aimed to study law. As she explained, "...my father said that he would fund law school if I majored in engineering." She earned a B.S. in Engineering Mechanics from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

in 1978, and by that time she had become passionate about engineering. She went to the

University of Michigan–Dearborn The University of Michigan–Dearborn (UM-Dearborn) is a public university in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1959 with a gift from the Ford Motor Company, it was initially known as the Dearborn Center, operating as a remote branc ...

, and earned an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1980 and earned her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor in 1985.

Career

Sheppard has held positions in Detroit, working at

Chrysler Corporation FCA US, LLC, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of ...

and also at Ford Motor Company's Scientific Research Lab. She started at Stanford as an assistant professor on the Mechanical Engineering faculty in 1986. Sheppard was promoted to associate professor in 1993, and achieved the rank of professor in 2005. Sheppard was chair of Stanford's Faculty Senate from 2006 to 2007. Between 1999 and 2008, she also served as Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, where she had responsibility for the Preparations for the Professions Program (PPP) engineering study and report.

Research

Sheppard has studied fatigue and fracture of structural components, producing technical papers, reports, and textbooks on "weld fatigue and impact failures, fracture mechanics and applied finite element analysis." She has also led studies of engineering education, including the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching: ''Educating Engineers: Designing for the Future of the Field.'' Sheppard has been principal investigator on multiple

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

grants focused on engineer educational methods, including Synthesis Coalition (1986–1995), founding the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (2003–2009) and the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (2011–2016).

Honors

In 2004, the

American Society for Engineering Education American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

presented Sheppard with the Chester F. Carlson Award, sponsored by

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...

, as an "innovator in engineering education who, by motivation and ability to extend beyond the accepted tradition, has made a significant contribution to the profession." Stanford University honored Sheppard in 2010 with the Walter J. Gores Award, "the University's highest award for excellence in teaching...the Gores Award celebrates achievement in educational activities that include lecturing, tutoring, advising, and discussion leading". In 2012 Sheppard received the Ralph Coats Roe Award from the American Society for Engineering Education, for "notable professional contributions". Sheppard received Stanford's 2014 President's Award for Excellence Through Diversity, "for serving as a trailblazing role model for women in engineering". The Carnegie Foundation named Sheppard 2014 U.S. Professor of the Year, "for her innovative approach to teaching undergraduate students in a hands-on, problem-solving way that transforms large classes into small group learning laboratories". She is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering and the

References

External links

Profiles.stanford.eduU.S. Professor of the Year
(video, 3:10 minutes)
EngineerGirl profile - Sheri Sheppard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, Sheri D Stanford University faculty American mechanical engineers American women engineers Living people University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni American women academics Fellows of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Fellows of the American Society for Engineering Education 1956 births 21st-century American women engineers 21st-century American engineers University of Michigan–Dearborn alumni William Horlick High School alumni Engineers from Wisconsin People from Racine, Wisconsin