(578a) From Particles to People and Complex Organizations

In 1989 Russel, Saville and Schowalter published the classic book about the dynamics of Brownian particles suspended in fluids. Bill Schowalter then turned his attention to the dynamics of people by becoming the dean of engineering at the University of Illinois. The jump from modeling inanimate objects to leading human beings is often treacherous, but Bill made it look seamless - which of course it is not. Others who followed him were fortunate to have his advice based on experience, not theory. In this presentation I will discuss leadership of technical organizations and posit that engineering-thinking is an asset. The discussion will also include thoughts on what differentiates engineering from science, and the role of diversity in guiding leaders to “do the right thing”.