Cynthia J. Atman is an American industrial engineer focusing on

engineering education Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education ( Dip.Eng.)and (B.Eng.) or ( M.Eng.), and any advanced education and specializations th ...

and human-centered design. She is Mitchell T. and Lella Blanche Bowie Endowed Chair in Human Centered Design & Engineering at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Education and career

Atman majored in

industrial engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

, graduating in 1979. She earned a master's degree in industrial and systems engineering at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

in 1983, and completed a PhD in engineering and public policy at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

in 1990. Her dissertation, ''Network Structures as a Foundation for Risk Communication: An Investigation of Structure and Format Differences'', was supervised by

Baruch Fischhoff Baruch Fischhoff (born April 21, 1946, Detroit, Michigan) is an American academic who is the Howard Heinz University Professor in the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology and the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Ca ...

. After postdoctoral research supported by the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

at the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 1961 and reorganized in 1998 ...

, working on engineering education in developing countries, she became an assistant professor at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

in 1991. After being promoted to associate professor, she moved to the University of Washington Department of Industrial Engineering in 1998, and became director of the Center for Engineering Learning & Teaching, which she continues to direct. In 2003, she was promoted to full professor and became director of the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education; she remained its director until 2010. She was given the Mitchell T. and Lella Blanche Bowie Endowed Chair in 2006, and moved from Industrial Engineering to Human-Centered Design & Engineering in 2009. From 2014 to 2018 she co-directed the Consortium to Promote Reflection in Engineering Education.

Recognition

Atman has won numerous best paper awards. She was the 2002 recipient of the Chester F. Carlson Award for Innovation in Engineering Education of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and the 2017 recipient of the Alfred N. Goldsmith Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Communication of the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

Professional Communication Society. She was elected as a

Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowship of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (FAAAS) is an honor accorded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to distinguished persons who are members of the Association. Fellows are elected ...

in 2006. She is also a Fellow of the ASEE and was a distinguished speaker for the ASEE in 2024.

Book

Atman is the coauthor, with M. Granger Morgan,

, and Ann Bostrom, of the book ''Risk Communication: A Mental Models Approach'' (Cambridge University Press, 2002)

References

External links

Home page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atman, Cynthia Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American industrial engineers American women engineers Women industrial engineers West Virginia University alumni Ohio State University College of Engineering alumni Carnegie Mellon University alumni University of Pittsburgh faculty University of Washington faculty Fellows of the American Society for Engineering Education Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science