When attends a major conference of electrical engineers in England this fall, he will be one of nearly 5,000 delegates.
糖心传媒淏ut there won糖心传媒檛 be many who look like me,糖心传媒� says the professor of electrical and computer engineering. He estimates only about 10 of the participants at the IEEE conference will be black.
糖心传媒淚t doesn’t bother me now as much as it did before,糖心传媒� Doyley says. 糖心传媒淣ow, I am a senior member, I have worked my way up, people know me, we have common experiences to talk about. But I糖心传媒檒l be looking at someone else who is a minority just starting to come up, who will be standing at the back, hesitant to speak or ask questions.糖心传媒�
Doyley is embarking on a mission to help address the glaring underrepresentation of minorities and women in STEM fields. He is one of 20 faculty members nationwide who have been selected for the first cohort of the , a program aimed at helping STEM faculty from underrepresented backgrounds ascend to leadership roles at colleges and universities.
糖心传媒淢arvin is a great faculty colleague and over the years he has contributed tremendously to ECE糖心传媒檚 research profile and teaching mission,糖心传媒� says Mark Bocko, chair of the 糖心传媒淗e clearly already possesses the skills and energy to be a wonderful leader for our department and the University, and the IAspire program is an excellent opportunity for him to hone those skills and prepare to take on new challenges in academic leadership.糖心传媒�
The academy, housed at the University of Georgia, is backed by the National Science Foundation and offered by . The one-year core curriculum includes in-person sessions, peer coaching sessions, a concurrent individual learning component, and an institutional action project.
Doyley糖心传媒檚 chosen project: Grow a pipeline to help diversify graduate students and faculty in his department. Doyley, for example, is the only black faculty member in the department, and only two women have primary appointments.
He糖心传媒檒l approach this in two ways.
- Apply for National Science Foundation funding for an REU (research experience for undergraduates) program that would bring underrepresented minority and women students from other colleges and universities to his department to do mentored summer research projects. The hope is they would then return to the department to do graduate work.
- Apply for National Institutes of Health funding for training grants to help support underrepresented minority and women graduate students in the department. 糖心传媒淎nd if they糖心传媒檙e great, we would hire them (as faculty members),糖心传媒� Doyley says.
Doyley hopes his participation in the academy will connect him with other participants, especially those from historically black colleges without graduate programs of their own, who could recommend top students from their institutions to participate in the REU and NIH training programs Doyley hopes to establish in his department.
糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 a slow process; it糖心传媒檚 not a quick fix,糖心传媒� Doyley acknowledges.
But it糖心传媒檚 a start.
A focus on mentors
Doyley, who was born in England, grew up in Jamaica and then returned to England at age 17 to attend college. He enjoyed math and science in school and from an early age wanted to be a doctor, just like Ben Casey, the idealistic young neurosurgeon in a TV series that was popular when Doyley was growing up.
However, he quickly became disabused of becoming a medical doctor after his guidance counselor at Brunel University in London suggested he do voluntary service at Greenwich Hospital.
糖心传媒淚 lasted two days,糖心传媒� Doyley says. 糖心传媒淭hey put me on the geriatric ward, and I could not handle it糖心传媒攁ll the people who were incontinent, or unable to do anything. It was a sad thing to see.糖心传媒�
Instead, he majored in applied physics. He then earned his doctorate in medical physics糖心传媒攗sing the principles of physics, mathematics, and engineering to solve medical problems糖心传媒攆rom the University of London. And then served as a post-doctoral researcher at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and then a research assistant professor at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College.
He joined the University of Rochester in 2008, at the invitation of Kevin Parker, the William F. May Professor of Engineering who was then dean of engineering.
糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檝e been lucky,糖心传媒� Doyley says. 糖心传媒淢y PhD advisor [Jeffery Bamber] was fantastic, always challenging me to ask the right questions and thinking outside the box. My advisors [Keith Paulsen, John Weaver, Ton Van Der Steen] at the Erasmus University and Dartmouth were also fantastic糖心传媒攖eaching me the value of excellence in research. And when I came here, Kevin was like a mentor to me糖心传媒攎y sounding board, who gave good and honest advice.糖心传媒�
Mentoring would be an important part of the REU and graduate training programs he hopes to establish.
Until now, Doyley糖心传媒檚 primary focus has been on his research interests, which include cardiovascular imaging, breast cancer imaging, ultrasound beamforming, contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging, ultrasound elastography, magnetic resonance elastography, and pancreatic cancer imaging.
糖心传媒淚 love research, and my dream, from a research standpoint, is to increase the diversity in our graduate students and professors. That糖心传媒檚 where my interest is right now.糖心传媒�
