Karl W. Reid (born in 1963) is an American writer and engineer, and the first Chief Inclusion Officer of

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

after serving as the longtime chief executive officer of the

National Society of Black Engineers The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) is a society that was founded in 1975 at Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. It is one of the largest student-run organizations in the United States, with core activities centered o ...

. Dr. Reid previously worked on new program development at the

United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities. ...

, as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, and in various roles at IBM.

Early life and education

Reid was born in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

and grew up in Roosevelt, New York. His parents were committed to his education and Reid attended a magnet school. He was an undergraduate student at

, where he studied materials science and was a

Tau Beta Pi The Tau Beta Pi Association (commonly Tau Beta Pi, , or TBP) is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a ...

scholar. He was a member of the

whilst at MIT. He joined as a freshman and was elected National Chairperson in 1984. After graduating with a master's degree in 1985, Reid joined IBM where he worked in product management and consulting.

Research and career

After reading Jonathan Kozol's book ''Savage Inequalities'' Reid was inspired to bring positive change through education. After twelve years in the

computer industry A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These progra ...

Reid returned to his alma mater, working on education programs for underserved communities in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Whist working at MIT Reid completed a doctorate degree at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

that looked at the relationship between race, identity and academic attainment. He was made head of the Office of Minority Education at MIT and also served as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education. Reid wanted to work on project at a national scale, so moved to the

(UNCF). At UNCF he controlled the development of new programs as Vice President of Research and Innovation. The

supports the

' 37

historically black colleges and universities Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. ...

. As of 2014, Reid has served as Executive Director of the

(NSBE). At NSBE Reid works to end the underrepresentation of black people in engineering courses. He was awarded the

Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring The Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) is a Presidential award established by the United States White House in 1995. The program is administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on ...

in 2003. He hopes that there will be 10,000 black undergraduate engineers in the

by 2025. He established the 50K coalition, a collaborative of the NSBE, the

American Indian Science and Engineering Society The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit professional association with the goal of substantially increasing American Indian, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, First Nation and other ...

, the

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) was founded in Los Angeles, California in 1974 by a group of engineers employed by the city of Los Angeles. Their objective was to form a national organization of professional engineers to serv ...

and the

Society of Women Engineers The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is an international not-for-profit educational and service organization. Founded in 1950 and headquartered in the United States, the Society of Women Engineers is a major advocate for women in engineering and ...

, that looks to end the underrepresentation of minority students in engineering.

Awards and honours

In 2018 Reid was awarded the Transformer Award from the ''Black Alumni of MIT''. He was also awarded the

American Association of Engineering Societies The American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) is an umbrella organization of engineering societies in the US, founded by a group of 43 societies in 1979. After several disputes, and a change in focus in the mid-1980s from speaking for t ...

Kenneth Andrew Roe Award, which recognises efforts to promote unity between engineering societies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Karl W. African-American engineers MIT School of Engineering alumni Harvard University alumni 1963 births Living people People from Roosevelt, New York 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people