Keynote Speakers
Karen Marsh
Karen Marsh is a Vice President of Quality and Process Engineering for Ecolab’s North America
Institutional Division, and a servant leader in her community. A native of Greenville, N.C., she earned her bachelor’s in chemical engineering from North Carolina A&T State University. She went on to serve as an Officer in the U. S. Navy as a Civil Engineering Corps Public Works Officer in Williamsburg, Virginia. Karen has 22 years of experience in Quality and Operations Excellence with Georgia Pacific and is currently the Vice President of Quality and Process Engineering with Ecolab, Inc.
When Karen relocated to the Charlotte area, she joined the NCA&T QC Alumni Chapter immediately
taking on roles of leadership and service. As President, she engaged in various service initiatives
throughout the community via both outreach and scholarships for local youth. Committed to uplifting
the marginalized neighborhoods of Charlotte, Karen also served as the VP of the Historic Hoskins
Coalition Group to renew pride within the black community. Karen’s dedication to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is evident at Ecolab as she leads the EcoEssence Employee Relations Group and is a member of the Black Leadership Forum. She has extensive experience establishing a vision and collaborating with diverse groups to get results and encourages the underrepresented to find their voice and create value while cultivating appreciation for diversity.
Dr. Eileen M. Van Aken
Dr. Eileen M. Van Aken is a Professor and Department Head of the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. She earned her BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in industrial engineering from Virginia Tech. Dr. Van Aken served as Associate Department Head and Undergraduate Program Director from 2005-2016, served as Interim Department Head from 2016-2018, and was appointed as Department Head in June 2018. Her research and teaching interests are in organizational transformation, process improvement, team-based work systems, and performance measurement system design. She served as Chair of the Council of Industrial Engineering Academic Department Heads and is currently President of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). She previously served on the Board of Trustees for IISE as Senior Vice President-International and as co-Editor-in-Chief for the Engineering Management Journal. She is a Fellow of IISE, the American Society of Engineering Management (ASEM), and the World Academy of Productivity Sciences. She is also a member of the American Society for Engineering Education.
Dr. Stephanie Luster-Teasley
Stephanie Luster-Teasley, Ph.D., serves as the interim dean of the College of Engineering at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Before her current role, she served as the vice provost for undergraduate education from 2020 – 2022 and professor and chair of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering from 2016 – 2020. She graduated from North Carolina A&T with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and continued her graduate studies at Michigan State University (MSU) where she received her M.S. in Chemical Engineering and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering. She joined the faculty at N.C. A&T in 2004, after working in private industry as an environmental engineer. Her research specializations include environmental remediation, water sustainability and engineering education. Over the last 19 years, she has been driven by a deep commitment and care for her students and lauded for bringing the excitement of real-world, hands-on experience into all her engineering courses and mentoring activities. Dr. Luster-Teasley’s research specializes in water treatment and she has three patents related to an environmental remediation technology. She is also passionate about professional development and training for students, faculty and staff.
Overall, her disciplinary, science education research, and professional development grants have yielded over $8 million in funding.
Courtney Cecil Anderson
Courtney Cecil Anderson is a proud Virginia Tech Hokie and graduate of their Industrial & Systems Engineering’s class of 2007. She remains very active with her department, having most recently spent six years serving on and chairing their Advisory Board. After spending several years as a manufacturing engineer, Courtney transitioned into management consulting for the federal government. She continued on with her firm in a role leading organizational strategy for her company of 16 years. Afterward, Courtney joined a Fortune 50 organization as Head of Culture. In addition to her corporate role, she is also Founder and CEO of Working Moms Movement, a coaching organization that helps busy moms build a “life management system” to efficiently optimize their time. Courtney grew up in small-town Tazewell, VA, and now lives in Charlotte, NC with her husband (a fellow VT ISE) and their two sons. They spend their free time watching the Hokies, on the lake, and traveling the world.