Dear Friends of Maseeh,
It's been an energizing spring at Maseeh College, and I'm grateful for a few minutes to share what's been happening, because this term has carried some moments I'm genuinely proud of.
The Vatheuer Family Foundation generously made an in-kind donation to produce Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Science & Engineering, a documentary featuring Maseeh College faculty researchers, a graduate student researcher, and me. The film asks a question I care deeply about, which is what happens when we let Indigenous perspectives reshape how we frame problems in science and engineering. I think the answer makes the work better for everyone, and I'll share screening details as soon as they're confirmed.
That work of making Indigenous voices visible in engineering is showing up in other ways this year, too. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation was on campus for a site visit for their Indigenous Graduate Partnership, an invitation-only program. Our faculty and staff previously won an early $250,000 Sloan seed grant to earn that invitation, making PSU one of ten institutions selected nationally and the only one in the Pacific Northwest.
Indigenous students remain among the most underrepresented people in engineering and computer science graduate programs anywhere in the country, and this potential partnership creates funded pathways for those students right here at PSU, at a college led by the country's first Indigenous dean of engineering, at the only Oregon university offering a major in Indigenous Nations and Native American Studies.
In February, PSU Vanguard reporter Grace Peterson published a wonderful profile on my path to this role and the values that guide how I think about engineering education. I appreciated her care with the story. On May 16, I'll have the chance to bring that conversation to a wider audience as a speaker at TEDxMtHood in Monmouth, Oregon, where the theme is "For the Common Good," which honestly could be Maseeh College's tagline. The event is open to the public and tickets are available through the TEDxMtHood website.
I'm also excited to report that the three programs the PSU Faculty Senate approved last fall, our Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence, an AI certificate, and a Cybersecurity certificate, will be launching soon. The undergraduate AI bachelor's will be a first in Oregon. These programs reflect what I hear from students and industry partners alike: the demand for professionals who combine deep technical skill with ethical awareness and human-centered thinking is enormous and growing, and we're building programs to meet it in a way that's distinctly Maseeh, rigorous and accessible and grounded in the belief that who builds the technology matters as much as what gets built.
This winter, we hosted our second Maseeh Exchange, this time focused on infrastructure. President Cudd delivered remarks, attendees toured open research labs and heard from veteran student speakers and WWII Rosies, and our faculty delivered Ignite talks. I love these events because they make visible what our people are actually doing, the research and teaching and mentorship that defines this college day to day. Our next Maseeh Exchange on May 20 showcases the potential of artificial intelligence for creativity and problem solving, and I hope you'll join us if you’re in the area.
Every partnership we build, every program we launch, every stage we step onto comes back to the same conviction that excellent engineering education should be inclusive, transformative, and in service of the communities around us. This has been a spring that makes me proud to lead this college and grateful to do it alongside all of you. Maseeh College is building something distinctive here at Portland State, and the partnerships, investment, and engagement make it possible.
With gratitude,
Joseph Bull, Ph.D.
H. Chik M. Erzurumlu Dean