Dr. Daniel Oerther, professor of environmental health engineering, has been elected to a three-year term as the chair of the Engineering and Public Policy Division of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).

The primary objectives of the division include promoting an understanding of:

• public policy fundamentals
• the implications of public policy on emerging technologies
• the process of developing public support for emerging technological solutions to societal grand challenges.

Additional objectives include promoting interaction between public policy decision makers and engineering faculty, encouraging faculty to contribute to policy, and promoting public policies that are supportive of engineering education.

From 2017 through 2019, Oerther served as the vice chair of the division and organized the division’s activities at the ASEE annual conference and exposition. In 2003, Oerther received the Best Paper Award from the environmental engineering division, and in 2019, he received the society’s Robert G. Quinn Award.