Mines professor Skokan named ASEE fellow

The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) recently made Colorado School of Mines Emerita Associate Professor Cathy Skokan an ASEE fellow, recognizing her significant contributions to engineering education.

In addition to being a distinguished educator at Mines, Skokan was also the first woman to earn a graduate degree at the school.

“I remember I applied to Lehigh University as C. King, my maiden name, because they weren’t accepting women at the time,” Skokan said. “But they eventually figured out I was a woman.”

Skokan instead attended Mines for her undergraduate education, receiving a full scholarship, and graduated in 1970. She earned her master’s degree in 1971 followed by a Ph.D. in 1974. She fell into teaching while waiting for a government research opportunity to come through, and has been an integral part of the Mines faculty since.

“I joined the multidisciplinary division of ASEE because electrical, mechanical and civil were all under the Engineering Division in those days. I went from secretary to treasurer, then program chair and finally chair,” Skokan, who is now ASEE vice president for external relations, said. "The best thing ASEE offers is workshops and venues to look at innovative teaching methods — those that worked and those that didn’t. I believe looking at the failure papers can be even more educational than the success papers."