Page 74 - Spring2022

BLACK STEM ACADEMIC
was forcing me to decide between my racial and scientific identities.Fortunately,theengineeringseniorleadershipat BU valued my DEI efforts and honored me with a Faculty Service Award. I did successfully navigate the system to promotion with tenure while being true to both identi- ties.Buttheacademicsystemneedstoevolveandembrace scholars who desire to expand access to higher education in addition to generating new knowledge. A system that values DEI efforts in addition to a scholar’s h-index will attract more scholars of color to pursue careers as STEM faculty who can then serve as role models for students of color and help them establish STEM identities.
Moving forward, I plan to embrace both identi- ties and infuse DEI in all aspects of my profession. Recently, I changed the name of my research group to the Diverse Engineering Applications Laboratory
(D.E.A.L.), signaling that we value diversity in per- sonal background as well as in scholarly pursuits. The guiding principle for the laboratory is “Diversity drives innovation, creativity, and personal growth.” I have also begun to pen more essays such as this one sharing my experiences balancing my identities as a scholar and as an activist. I hope that my efforts contribute to transforming higher education so that DEI work is no longer “invisible.”
Contact Information
Tyrone Porter tmp6@utexas.edu
Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Texas at Austin
107 W. Dean Keeton Street
Austin, Texas 78715, USA
POMA Student Paper Competition
ATTENTION STUDENTS ATTENDING THE DENVER MEETING!!
Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics (POMA) is holding a society-wide student paper competition for a POMA submission based on a presentation or poster from the ASA meeting in Denver this spring.
Award Amounts: Up to five student papers will receive an award of USD $300.
For qualification requirements, submission window, and additional information, please visit: acousticalsociety.org/asa-meetings or contact the POMA Office at poma@acousticalsociety.org
74 Acoustics Today • Spring 2022