Women's History Month: March
In the College of Engineering, all are welcome. To better share the stories of how our faculty, staff, students and alumni are diverse in their many varying forms, we are celebrating various heritage and other nationally recognized months. This recognition will include stories about those in our greater engineering community, as well as sharing events and other opportunities.
Shannon Bartelt-Hunt
Donald R. Voelte, Jr. and Nancy A. Keegan Chair of Engineering and Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Q: Describe a bit about your personal and/or professional background.
A: I grew up in a small town in Iowa, went to college in Chicago, followed by grad school in Virginia. My husband, George, and I moved to Nebraska to start my job at UNL in 2006. We have two boys - Sam is 15 and Alden is 12.
Q: What is your role in the College of Engineering – and what do you enjoy (love!) about what you are doing?
A: I am the department chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering. I love my job because I love working with our faculty, staff and students. Civil and environmental engineers provide the infrastructure we use every day. My job is to support all the great work that our department does every day to improve people's lives.
Q: How do you bring your own unique background to your role/responsibilities in the college or your professional life?
A: I don't think its unique, but what I have always brought to my job has been an attempt to balance work commitments with the rest of life. For me, that is balancing my time and energy for my kids. I started my faculty position when my oldest son was only 10 months old and Alden was born three years later. Others may need to balance caring for parents or a partner. I try to remember that everyone has other commitments and pressures outside of work. It's important to provide support and understanding for each person through both personal and professional challenges.
Q: What advice or words of wisdom could you share with others in our engineering community (staff, faculty, students, alums)?
A: I think engineering is a wonderful career. The most important attributes for being an engineer are being creative, a good communicator and being curious. It's not important to be at the top of your math and science classes. Be inquisitive and ask a lot of questions about how and why things work!
