Whitney Gaskins
A mentor, adviser, and community activist, Dr. Whitney Gaskins has dedicated her life to motivation and philanthropic endeavors. Dr. Gaskins is the Assistant Dean of Inclusive Excellence and Community Engagement in the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering and Applied Science, the only African-American female currently teaching in the faculty of the College of Engineering. Whitney earned her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering, her Masters of Business Administration in Quantitative Analysis and her Doctorate of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering/Engineering Education.
In 2009, she founded The Gaskins Foundation, a non-profit organization, whose mission is to educate and empower the African American community. Her foundation recently launched the Cincinnati STEMulates year round K-12 program, which is a free of charge program that will introduce more students to Math and Science. She was named the 2017 K12 Champion by the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates (NAMEPA).
Continuing with her commitment to community involvement, Whitney has been actively involved in the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) since 2003. Within this organization of more than 30,000 members, she thrives to increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers, who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community. In 2013, she served as the organization’s Annual Convention Planning Chairperson where she developed, planned, organized, and executed the second largest Annual Convention in NSBE history for over 9,200 attendees and raised over $3,000,000 to support the organization’s programmatic efforts. She currently serves as an advisor for the organization. In 2015, Dr. Gaskins was awarded the Janice A Lumpkin Educator of the Year Golden Torch Award
Whitney is an active member in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She previously served as President of her undergraduate chapter (Omicron) and has transitioned into the Sigma Omega graduate chapter where she currently serves as President. Dr. Gaskins has been named an Outstanding President and led her chapter to be named 1st place in Political Impact, 1t place in Connections, 1st Place in Undergraduate/Graduate Relations, recipient of the Great Lakes Regional Directors Award, and 1st Place in Educational Enrichment/ASCEND program youth programming.
Dr. Gaskins is also a member of the Links, NAMEPA and the National Technical Association, amongst other activities. Whitney was recognized in the 2013 and 2014 Edition of Who’s Who in Black Cincinnati.