ICS News Archive

Sharnnia Artis Recognized as a Rising Star in Promoting STEM Diversity

Sharnnia Artis, assistant dean for access and inclusion for the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) and the Samueli School of Engineering, received the Rising Star in Diversity Award at the inaugural conference of the Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD). The award recognizes an individual in his or her profession for fewer than 10 years who has actively worked to enhance diversity and inclusion by mentoring, supporting or advocating for the success of historically underserved individuals in engineering or computer science, or for climate and culture change that supports such success.

“I was really excited to receive this award,” says Artis, because it represents “every student, faculty and staff member, teacher, and parent I have been fortunate to work with in my career.”

According to Janice Crow, the conference planning committee co-chair, the achievements of Artis include increasing diversity in engineering in the areas of outreach, recruitment and retention; funding for new programs; and creating a centralized office for STEM diversity and inclusion.

“My contribution to increasing the number of women and people of color in engineering and computing is a result of passionate individuals who share a common vision as I do,” says Artis. “That vision is to open STEM doors and provide access to everyone, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, etc.”

The CoNECD Conference shares that vision and aims to provide a forum for exploring current research and practices to enhance diversity and inclusion of underrepresented groups in the engineering and computing professions.

“There’s still a lot of work to do,” says Artis, “and I hope others join in so we can continue cultivating more rising stars in the field.”

— Shani Murray