Linda Vanasupa

Linda Vanasupa joined Olin’s faculty after 27 years as a professor of materials engineering at the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. The highlights and minutiae of that journey can be found in her vita.

In coming to Olin, they have continued their efforts to learn engineering together in a way that is life-giving. This has taken the form of exploring the conditions for thriving through translating neuroscience findings. While this might sound a little mysterious, it is nothing more than managing one’s state of being and working with others toward shared aspirations.

As a transgender lesbian person, she/they have not yet figured out how to properly use pronouns. Yet, they realize that their social identity has helped them to develop a greater empathy for people experiencing marginalization in engineering.  She strives to create engineering learning environments where all are dignified and have the conditions for thriving for an engineering profession that is similar—ultimately, for an engineered world that is similar.