Dr. Wlezien, who joined Missouri S&T in August 2017, leads efforts to achieve the college’s mission through the promotion of excellence in teaching, research and service. He is responsible for CEC’s external affairs, interacting with key constituencies including research sponsors and alumni. He was previously aerospace engineering chair at Iowa State University, a former researcher and program director at NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and chair of mechanical engineering at Tufts University. Wlezien earned his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

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Dr. Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe is a professor and past interim chair in Missouri S&T’s department of geosciences and geological and petroleum engineering. She is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Geological Society of America (GSA). Dr. Oboh-Ikuenobe is an African Scientific Institute Fellow and member of the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) Scientific Board (Global Change Group) of UNESCO/International Union of Geological Sciences. She obtained a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Cambridge through a Commonwealth Scholarship, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Dr. Oboh-Ikuenobe joined the faculty at Missouri S&T in 1991.

Dr. David Borrok came to Missouri S&T in 2017 from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he was inaugural director of the school of geosciences. He also served as interim director of the Institute for Coastal Ecology and Water Research at Louisiana-Lafayette. Borrok earned a bachelor’s degree in geology and geophysics from Missouri S&T, a master’s degree in economic geology from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in geomicrobiology and geochemistry from the University of Notre Dame.

Grace joined our faculty in 2014 and has established herself as a national leader in hazard mitigation, community risk awareness and resilience, and structural health monitoring. She was recently elected chair of the North American Alliance for Hazards and Disaster Research Board of Directors. Grace has worked alongside colleagues from the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Colorado State University to study and mitigate the effects of devastating tornadoes in Kentucky, Illinois, Arkansas and Tennessee.

Dr. Stephen Raper is an associate professor of engineering management and also the associate chair of undergraduate studies in engineering management. Dr. Raper is involved in campus-wide initiatives in student success, recruitment and retention. He is also the longest-standing faculty member in Diversity, Inclusion and Equity at the university. As CEC ABET Coordinator, Dr. Raper is responsible for overseeing the accreditation activities for the college; preparing the college for the accreditation visit; ensuring proper documentation is developed and preserved in each department; organizing training activities to ensure everyone is knowledgeable about the process; and all other accreditation processes. Dr. Raper has been a faculty member at Missouri S&T since 1990. He earned his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in engineering management at S&T.