Director & Teaching Professor - Fundamentals of Engineering Program
Lizzie Y. Santiago, Ph.D., is a Teaching Professor for the Fundamentals of Engineering Program in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The classroom is Dr. Santiago’s source of inspiration when working with students. She holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and has postdoctoral training in neural tissue engineering and molecular neurosciences. Dr. Santiago teaches first year engineering courses (including a course she designed in critical thinking to help non-calculus ready first-year engineering students), serves as an academic advisor to at least 125 students each semester and supports the outreach and recruiting activities of the college. Her excellence in teaching and academic advising have been recognized at both the college and university level as she has received the Statler College Outstanding Teaching Award (2017), Statler College Educator of the Year Award (2020), Statler College Outstanding Teaching Award (2021) and WVU Foundation Outstanding Teaching Award (2017). She helps promote New Student Orientation (NSO), Engineering Fest, Mid-Year Academy, Engineering 101 EXPO, and Out of Class Experiences (OCEs). Since 2013, Dr. Santiago serves as an active academic advisor for the West Virginia University Student Chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and has guided that organization in their campus activities and has supported student participation in annual SHPE conferences. She shares her teaching expertise with others engaging with the WVU Teaching and Learning Commons and has mentored new faculty and served on faculty panels. Dr. Santiago’s promotes passion for learning and for engineering. Students need to understand that learning goes beyond the boundaries of the classroom. Her research interests include critical thinking, neural tissue engineering, attrition, and university retention, increasing student awareness and interest in research and engineering, critical thinking, STEM education, and recruitment and retention of women and minorities.
Education
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University