Her story:

Dr. Whitney Gaskins is the Assistant Dean of Inclusive Excellence and Community Engagement – and the only African-American female currently teaching in the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering and Applied Science. Whitney earned her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering, her Masters of Business Administration in Quantitative Analysis and her Doctorate of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering/Engineering Education.

In 2009, she founded The Gaskins Foundation, a non-profit organization, whose mission is to educate and empower the African American community. Its core program, STEMulates, provides free, year-round K-12 educational programming decided to introduce more students to math and science. She was named the 2017 K12 Champion by the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates (NAMEPA).

Advice for emerging African American leaders:

Be authentically you! I know it’s easier said than done, but we forget how excellent we are by spending too much of our time trying to be someone else. Think of the energy you save when you don’t worry about being someone else and just be yourself.

Staying energized after a long week of work:

I am energized by my job. It can be tough sometimes, but I truly love what I do. I think I am in a rare position that I don’t need to escape from my work, I am working in my passion. I can reflect on the things I have been able to accomplish, and it feels really good.

Advice received along the way:

I have received a lot of advice over the years that has really helped me. Right now, I think the most important piece of advice is to put the things that matter most to you first. I spend a lot of time with my husband, family and friends for that reason. I am living life with no regrets, just memories and experiences.

Her legacy:

I want to leave a legacy of hope and community building. It is very important to me that I give back to the community. I want to pour into others the same way that my family poured into me so young kids who look like me can imagine themselves as engineers or scientists.