Our Diverse podcast is brought to you by SWE’s Advance Learning Center, supporting the recruitment, retention and advancement of women in engineering through career resources, professional development and one-to-one networking opportunities.
(Jonna’s Introduction)
Hi, I’m Jonna Gerken, FY18 President of the Society of Women Engineers, and this is SWE’s Diverse podcast series. Please remember to add this podcast to your iTunes and like or follow us on social media. Visit swe.org for more details.
Joining me now, as part of our Men as Diversity Partners podcast series, is Michael Milligan. He is the Executive Director and CEO of ABET, the leading global organization that accredits college and university programs in STEM fields.
Thanks for joining us Michael.
(Questions/Talking Points)
Michael, you have a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, tell us more about your background and career.
You’ve been the CEO of ABET since 2009, and a few years ago, SWE became an associate member of ABET. To earn a SWE scholarship, students have to be enrolled in ABET-accredited engineering or technical programs. Why is accreditation important?
Thousands of ABET-accredited programs are located throughout the U.S. and globally as well. How many countries have ABET-accredited schools?
You live in Maryland with your wife and two sons. Your wife is also an engineer, and you recently wrote about her in an article for the blog Medium. Tell us about that.
Since you have both professional and personal experience with the engineering profession, what do you think men can do to be better diversity partners for women engineers?
What can women engineers do to make their organizations more diverse?
ABET has several women in leadership roles. Tell us more about what ABET is doing to promote women leaders and diversity in engineering overall.
To learn more about ABET, go to ABET.org. And to learn more about SWE scholarships to ABET-accredited programs, go to scholarships.swe.org.
(Conclusion)
Michael, thank you so much for joining us. Michael Milligan is the Executive Director and CEO of ABET.
I’m Jonna Gerken. For all of us at SWE, thanks for listening.
About Michael Milligan
Prior to joining ABET in 2009, Milligan held various leadership positions in the government and in academia. He also served 24 years as a career U.S. Air Force officer.
Milligan has a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, an M.S from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and a B.S. from Michigan State University – all in electrical engineering. He also earned an M.B.A. from Western New England College, Springfield, MA, is a registered Professional Engineer (PE) in Colorado and Maryland and a Certified Association Executive (CAE).
Milligan lives in Severna Park, MD, with his engineer wife and their two sons.
Men As Diversity Partners Podcast Series
To hear more of our podcasts, check out our Men As Diversity Partners series playlist on SoundCloud:
