Date: Monday, Feb. 28, 2022
Time: 12:30 p.m.- 1:20 p.m.
Location: Van Leer, WC240
Speaker: Janet C. Rutledge
Speaker’s Title: Vice Provost and Dean
Speaker’s Affiliation: The Graduate School at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
Seminar Title: The Unforeseen Graduate Dean
Abstract of Talk: Many of us spend our lives asking the question: “what do I want to be when I grow up?” With about 10 years to go until I retire, I’ve stopped worrying about the answer to this question. In fact, I no longer think it is the right question. The advice that I received over the years, that I didn’t always appreciate, was to focus on the intersection of four things: 1) what I enjoy doing; 2) what I’m good at doing; 3) what I can earn enough money doing to have my desired lifestyle; and, 4) what will allow me to have the career-life balance I am seeking. These things have changed over time and I regularly check in with myself on all four areas to see if updates are needed. An important step is to determine what preparation is needed to be able to do the things I’ve listed in these categories. One of my favorite adages is “Opportunity is where luck meets preparation.” At each stage of my career path the opportunities that I was able to take were in large part due to the preparation I had done. I never set out to be a graduate dean but as I reflect back on my career, everything I’ve done has led me to this point. In this talk I will share my career path, reflecting on the four points and how my preparation led to various opportunities that were at times unforeseen by me in my advanced planning. So, prepare for the four things and be open to the opportunities that luck may bring your way.
Biographical Sketch of the Speaker: Dr. Janet C. Rutledge has served as the vice provost and dean of the graduate school at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) since 2009. She is also a faculty member in the Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Department. Before coming to UMBC she was the program director for the Graduate Research Fellowships Program at the National Science Foundation. In her prior position at NSF she served as a program director in the Division of Engineering Education and Centers and chaired the NSF-wide coordinating committee for the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program. Formerly she was on the faculty in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at Northwestern University, with an affiliate appointment in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. For a brief period of time she had a company housed at the Georgia Tech Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) supported by a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant.
Rutledge received the B.S. in electrical engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She received the M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her primary research area is modeling and compensating for the effects of sensorineural hearing loss and other communication disorders. She has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on over $25 million dollars in grant funding in support of research and education. Rutledge serves on the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Board of Trustees, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Minority Ph.D. Program Advisory Committee, the TOEFL Board, and is past chair of the Board of Trustees for the Barrie School (an independent school serving grades PK-12). She formerly served on the Council of Graduate Schools Board of Directors and the GRE Board (Chair 2017-18).