Martin-Vega inducted into HENAAC Hall of Fame

Dr. Louis A. Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University, has been inducted into the HENAAC Hall of Fame by Great Minds in STEM, a non-profit organization that works to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers among Hispanics and other underrepresented communities.

Hall of Fame membership is the organization’s highest honor for individuals and reflects achievements that have opened doors to advances in STEM and opened minds about the contributions of Hispanics in these fields. Great Minds in STEM established the HENAAC Hall of Fame in 1998.

Martin-Vega is the Hall of Fame’s 31st inductee and the only one for 2011. He will be honored at the 23rd Annual HENAAC Conference Awards Show in October.

Martin-Vega has been dean of engineering at NC State since 2006. Prior to coming to NC State, he spent nearly five years as professor and dean of engineering at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. He has also held several prestigious positions at the National Science Foundation including acting head of its Engineering Directorate and director of its Division of Design, Manufacture and Industrial Innovation.

In 2007 Martin-Vega received the Tampa Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) National Hispanic Scientist Award and was named that same year by Hispanic Business magazine as one of its 100 Most Influential Hispanics. He was recognized in 2008 as the Outstanding Engineer in North Carolina by the North Carolina Society of Engineers.

He received the Industrial and Systems Engineering Alumni Leadership Award from the University of Florida in 2009 and the Institute of Industrial Engineers’ UPS Award for Minority Advancement in Industrial Engineering in 2010. He is currently on the executive board of the National GEM Consortium. He is also chair of the Public Policy Colloquium of the American Society for Engineering Education Engineering Deans Council and vice chair of the Engineering Deans Council Executive Board.

Martin-Vega received his BS in industrial engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, his MS in operations research from New York University, and his ME and PhD degrees in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Florida.

Great Minds in STEM was established in 1989 as HENAAC, which stood for the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference. The group focuses on STEM educational awareness and provides resources for recognition and recruitment of Hispanics in STEM, connecting the engineering and science arenas to the general population.