Katherine Snyder, University of Detroit Mercy dean, featured in Crain's 2019 Notable Women in Education Leadership

Katherine Snyder, the University of Detroit Mercy’s first female dean, is one of only two engineering deans in Michigan.

“She has forged important relationships with community partners, industry and government agencies that have strategically advanced the standing of the college and developed important opportunities for students and faculty at the school and in their future endeavors,” said Noreen Rossi, a professor and vice chair of Internal Medicine in the Division of Nephrology at John D. Dingell VA Medical Center.

Since Snyder’s appointment in 2018, Snyder instituted new outreach programs, including launching high school teacher-training opportunities and the Student Ambassador Program that employs current Detroit Mercy students to visit high schools and promote STEM fields and related careers. She also expanded dual-enrollment offerings between the college and local high schools. Most of the senior class at Cristo Rey High School is bused to campus for part of the day to take engineering and science classes from college faculty.

Snyder also directed the ReBUILDetroit program, a $21.2 million National Institutes of Health-funded undergraduate program created to increase the number of underrepresented students studying to become scientific researchers. She followed up by obtaining a second five-year program grant of more than $19 million.

Moreover, Snyder launched a college Enhancing Faculty Diversity Taskforce and worked with the university president to secure a $500,000 donation for Detroit Mercy’s Center for Innovation and Collaboration.

Originally published in Crain's Detroit Business.