Janet Callahan

Janet Callahan is Dean of the College of Engineering and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, USA.

She obtained her doctorate in Materials Science from the University of Connecticut, where she researched the reactive element effect on oxide growth in Ni-base alloys. After completing a post-doctoral appointment at the CSIRO in Melbourne, Australia, she joined the Georgia Institute of Technology as a faculty member. There she developed and patented a method for synthesizing metal nanoparticles in alumina and other oxides by cation reduction through ion implantation of reactive elements.

She joined Boise State University as a professor in the new department of Materials Science and Engineering in 2004, where she served the college as associate dean, helped establish the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering, and ultimately served as Chair from 2016-2018.

For nearly twenty years, Dr. Callahan has extensively volunteered for ACerS and ABET, the accreditation board for engineering education. This service began as an ABET program evaluator for ACerS and was followed by five years serving on the Engineering Accreditation Commission. She remains in service to ACerS and to other member societies in a leadership role as a member of the Executive Committee for the Engineering Accreditation Commission for ABET.

Dean Callahan is a Fellow of the American Society of Engineering Education where she serves as Past Chair of the Women in Engineering Division. She is also a Fellow of the University of Connecticut’s Academy of Engineers. A passionate advocate of engineering education, she has published over 100 publications and patents, with almost half of them focused on engineering education, faculty development, and leadership.