Marilyn E. Demorest Award for Faculty Advancement
Lee Blaney, Professor, Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering
Mentoring early-career and future faculty is one of Professor Lee Blaney’s passions. He has particularly dedicated himself to this task through professional service to the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP). Blaney is a co-organizer of the AEESP Faculty Mentoring Program, which matches 30 – 40 early-career faculty mentees with senior faculty mentors each year. He has also served as a mentor in every iteration of this important program. Blaney invests a significant amount of time in each of his mentees, offering structured guidance on tenure and promotion expectations, comprehensive feedback on proposals and tenure packages, and positive reinforcement. As president elect of AEESP, he also delivers ad hoc support and advice to faculty around the country on various matters. Blaney has leveraged similar interests to ensure successful faculty searches at UMBC. As a STRIDE fellow (2019 – 2023), he conducted dozens of consultations and workshops related to best practices for inclusive faculty searches. As a recipient of the 2023 – 2024 Marilyn E. Demorest Faculty Advancement Award, Blaney plans to work with the colleges to increase nominations of UMBC faculty for prestigious awards.