KENNESAW, Ga. | Feb 11, 2019

KSU president recognized for empowering female professionals across state

Kennesaw State University President Pamela Whitten has been named to Engineering Georgia magazine’s Top 100 Influential Women in Georgia list, recognizing her role in empowering other female professionals in the industry across the state.

Whitten, who was named Kennesaw State’s fifth president in June 2018, was selected by a panel of industry leaders and Engineering Georgia editorial board members. The list “celebrates the diversity of female leaders, policy makers and visionaries who have spent their careers changing Georgia’s landscape for the better,” according to the publication. Last year, in the publication’s inaugural Top 100 list, Kennesaw State faculty members, Kathryn Bedette, associate professor of architecture, and Nancy Turner, senior lecturer of civil engineering, were recognized for their contributions to the state’s engineering community.

“I am honored to be a part of this impressive list of women leaders,” Whitten said. “The fact that KSU is once again represented is evidence that we are home to some of the best women leaders in engineering, architecture and construction our state has to offer, and I look forward to seeing that trend continue in coming years.”

As president, Whitten leads Georgia’s largest R2 doctoral research institution, a designation that puts KSU among the top six percent of colleges and universities nationwide that are classified as either R1 or R2. The University is home to 13 colleges, including the College of Architecture and Construction Management and the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, the second largest engineering college in the state.

KSU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology is ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the nation’s top undergraduate engineering programs and online graduate engineering programs. According to the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, KSU is among the top producers of Georgia’s engineers with 73 percent of its graduates landing in engineering jobs within the state one year after graduation. In addition to Turner and Bedette, the College is home to other award-winning faculty members and students, including the 2019 Georgia Society of Professional Engineer’s (GSPE) Engineer of the Year Lance Crimm. KSU’s Chloe Enix was recognized as the 2018 Student Engineer of the Year by the GSPE, and Turner, who was her advisor, also was awarded the 2017 Georgia Engineer of the Year in Education.

As a leader, Whitten is dedicated to providing opportunities for women and encouraging them to seek leadership positions. In her role as senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Georgia (UGA), the position she held prior to being named president at KSU, she established the Women’s Leadership Initiative. Recently, she tapped Coles College of Business Dean Dr. Kathy Schwaig to serve as the University’s new provost and vice president for academic affairs. Schwaig becomes part of Whitten's leadership cabinet, which is now nearly 65 percent female.

In addition to her leadership positions in Georgia, Whitten served as dean of the College of Communication Arts & Sciences at Michigan State University. She is an internationally recognized expert in the field of telemedicine – the remote delivery of health care services and information – and has conducted research with funding from multiple state and federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Whitten has published two books and more than 100 peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters.

She holds a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from the University of Kansas, a Master of Arts in Communication from the University of Kentucky and a Bachelor of Science in Management from Tulane University.

– Travis Highfield

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 45,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 7 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.