December 12, 2022 Fu wins national mentoring award Written By: Staff Departments: Mechanical Engineering Categories: Awards Kate Fu, Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Associate Professor of mechanical engineering at UW-Madison, was awarded one of three national Faculty Mentor of the Year awards at the annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in October 2022 in Atlanta. The Institute on Teaching and Mentoring is the nation’s largest annual gathering of underrepresented PhD students and college faculty members of color. Fu was nominated by Georgia Tech doctoral student Bettina Arkhurst, who said, “I do not believe I would have been able to continue in my PhD program without her support and mentorship. If there is anyone who deserves to be honored for her commitment to enabling graduate students of color to thrive in spaces that have historically been unwelcoming, it is Kate.” To address the nation’s continuing shortage of African-American, Hispanic and Native American faculty, the Southern Regional Education Board-State Doctoral Scholars Program hosts the annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, a collaboration of programs across the country that support minority PhD students.