Associate Dean of Engineering Kim Knox on Thursday will be inducted as an eminent engineer into Tau Beta Pi, Tufts' engineering honor society.
"I am honored and humbled by this honor," Knox told the Daily in an email.
Tau Beta Pi is a nationwide society with chapters at nearly 250 colleges and universities comprised of students and alumni who have excelled in engineering. Although chapters at other universities have inducted eminent engineers, Knox is the first person to be inducted as an eminent engineer by the Tufts chapter of Tau Beta Pi, according to Tau Beta Pi president Adam Pardes.
"It's up to us to take the initiative to [recognize an engineer]," Pardes, a senior, said.
"We got the idea from the district conference. We'd heard of other schools' inducting professors," he added.
Pardes said Knox, who earned a Master of Science in Structural Engineering at Tufts, was identified as a candidate for induction for reasons beyond her long career in the engineering field.
"She was pretty much the prototype for the type of person they'd like to honor as an eminent engineer," he said. "Just because someone has been an engineer for 10 years doesn't mean we fill out the paperwork. We thought having Dean Knox would be great for her and great for our chapter to make a mark on campus."
After students in a Tau Beta Pi chapter campaign for a professor or faculty member to be inducted as an eminent engineer, the national board reviews the candidate, Pardes said. Tau Beta Pi members are the ones who usually recommend eminent engineers, and the required degree of achievement is left to the chapters' discretion. Exemplary character is also taken into account when considering candidates.
According to the Tau Beta Pi website, eminent engineer nominations must have graduated from a recognized engineering college and must have for at least 10 years been engaged in engineering. If a candidate did not graduate from a recognized college engineering program, they must have practiced engineering for at least 15 years.
Knox has been a practicing engineer for over 30 years. She is a registered professional engineer in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire and worked at the Massachusetts Highway Department before coming to Tufts as Associate Dean of Engineering in 1994.
"Dean Knox had a distinguished career as a structural engineer before coming to Tufts," Dean of the School of Engineering Linda Abriola said.
"Since coming to Tufts, she has had an extraordinary impact on the undergraduate program," Abriola added. "She is responsible for the fact that we have such a wonderful retention of undergraduate students. She designed the advising program and manages the advising program for our undergraduate students."
According to Abriola, who was inducted into Tau Beta Pi as an undergraduate at Drexel University, 40 to 60 percent of students at most U.S. engineering schools transfer out of engineering during their four years. This is not the case at Tufts, where she said due to Knox's work, most engineering students complete the full program.
"I think that we don't do enough to recognize all her contributions," Abriola said. "She's so warm and giving in all that she does and she cares so much about students. I think she's had a fantastic effect on her program."
Pardes said that the induction ceremony is closed to the public and will be held in the style of all nationwide Tau Beta Pi inductions. There will be a short celebratory dinner for Tau Beta Pi members following the induction.
