Deborah Goodings to serve on White House task force of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC)

Deborah Goodings, associate dean for graduate studies at the College of Engineering and Computing, has been appointed to a task force of the White House National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC). The NIAC has created the Expanding the Workforce for Critical Infrastructure subcommittee in recognition that a skilled workforce is essential to plan, design, build, operate, maintain, and repair the infrastructure that supports the basic functions of American society. The task force will provide recommendations to incentivize workers to enter this critical infrastructure field and to broaden access to training and educational opportunities.

“Engineers and computer scientists are leaders in ensuring resilience and sustainability of existing infrastructure.  And they are central in creating a future that depends even more on innovative and secure systems with increased capacity.  Achieving the vision, however, depends on taking a holistic approach to the broader health of the ecosystem of our critical infrastructure workforce, said Goodings.

Goodings’s leadership in engineering higher education and research spans four decades. During that time, she has been a department chair, chaired professor, and associate dean of engineering and computing at George Mason University, a division director at the National Science Foundation, and a professor at the University of Maryland.  Her experience and expertise have led to her service to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the National Academies/National Research Council, and to institutional visiting and review committees both in the United States and Canada. 

She has developed programs that enrich the classroom experience of engineers to expand their sense of citizenship and responsibility. These experiences often include emphasis on the non-technical skills that engineers must develop to be successful in their jobs and lives.  Her career accomplishments have been recognized with awards from the U.S. Department of the Army; the U.S. National Research Council; the U.S. Universities Council on Geotechnical Engineering Research; Professional Engineers Ontario; and the University of Maryland.