image: UVA Engineering students will soon benefit from the new Engineering Character Strength Initiative made possible by a grant from the Program for Leadership and Character and Lilly Endowment Inc.
Credit: Todd Wright
The University of Virginia's School of Engineering and Applied Science has been chosen to receive a $900,000 grant from the Educating Character Initiative (ECI) to build character strength in students.
The Institutional Impact grant, awarded by Wake Forest University’s Program for Leadership and Character and supported by a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., will fund the creation of the University of Virginia Engineering Character Strength Initiative (ECSI). The innovative initiative is designed to holistically integrate character education into UVA’s undergraduate engineering curriculum and experiences to build more ethical engineers, computer scientists and STEM leaders.
“The University of Virginia Engineering Character Strength Initiative will build more ethical engineering leaders by empowering our students with the education and experiences to face today’s professional challenges with honor and determination,” said Rosalyn Berne, the Anne Shirley Carter Olsson Professor of Applied Ethics and the chair of the department of Engineering and Society at UVA Engineering. “We are excited and honored to be chosen for this grant, which will bring this innovative initiative to life at UVA.”
The ECSI will focus on pragmatic approaches to character development, with the goal of developing future leaders who are both prepared and motivated to apply values in professional contexts and successfully navigate today’s ethical challenges. Character education will be integrated into the undergraduate required four-course sequence of engineering foundations, ethics, and social science. It will also engage students and faculty through character-focused conferences, mentoring, awards programs, retreats and workshops. The broader UVA community and external stakeholders will also be able to engage through a speaker series and other opportunities.
“The UVA School of Engineering is committed to character development as a key element of its educational mission,” said Dean Jennifer L. West. “With its integrated, multi-year focus on social and ethical development of engineers, UVA Engineering is unique among undergraduate STEM programs. I am delighted that UVA Engineering can help pave the way to establishing more character education in STEM fields, benefiting the engineering field and society as a whole.”
According to Berne, the inspiration for the project is the recognition of how important character strength is to the engineering profession. “Unfortunately, you only have to look at the news to see examples of failure of character among engineers,” said Berne. “Recent airplane crashes, building collapses and companies’ violations of the Clean Air Act can all be attributed to these failures. But we can be part of the solution by introducing character-building initiatives like this one.”
The grant was awarded by the Educating Character Initiative (ECI), a part of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University. The goal of the grant program is to strengthen the understanding, integration, and education of character in undergraduate institutions. Institutional Impact Grants of between $100,000 and $1,000,000 have been awarded to institutions undertaking a substantial and sustained effort to educate character in their undergraduate populations. These three-year grants will provide support to enable institutional leaders, faculty and staff to infuse character in undergraduate curricula and programming in ways that align organically with their college or university mission, context and culture.
In 2024, 24 Institutional Impact Grants were awarded to 29 colleges and universities, including UVA.
“We are thrilled to see the creativity and commitment of so many colleges and universities who want to educate character at such a critical time in our society,” said Michael Lamb, the executive director of the Program for Leadership and Character. “Character education is not one-size-fits all, so we’re excited to learn from the initiatives that this impressive group of institutions will undertake. We are grateful to Lilly Endowment Inc. for supporting this national community and eager to see its impact on the future of higher education.”
The University of Virginia was founded in 1819 with a mission to advance human knowledge, educate leaders, and serve an informed citizenry. This vision continues today, with a commitment to building a Community of Trust and a focus on honor, integrity, and respect. UVA Engineering’s creation of the ECSI is a natural extension of this mission and vision. The initiative has strong support from UVA leaders including President James E. Ryan and will reinforce UVA’s institutional quest to be both “Great and Good,” in accordance with Ryan’s 2030 Plan.
"This is a terrific initiative that will contribute to the goals outlined in UVA’s strategic plan and prepare our students not only for professional success, but also to lead a meaningful and ethical life," said UVA President James E. Ryan. "This project is a perfect example of what it means to be both great and good."
In addition to spearheading the ECSI initiative as Project Director and Principal Investigator (PI), Berne is a leading engineering scholar and author. She chairs UVA Engineering’s Department of Engineering and Society and has been a faculty member since 1999, in addition to receiving three degrees from UVA. Berne also serves as PI and Co-Director of the Online Ethics Center, is a member of the Ethics Committee of the American Society for Engineering Education, and has received an NSF CAREER Award. Her research and writing spans considerations of ethics in engineering practice, biotechnology and nanotechnology, and ethics in engineering education. Under Berne’s leadership, the Department of Engineering and Society has built a long-standing record of commitment and innovation in ethics education. It was named an exemplary engineering ethics program by the National Academy of Engineering (2016).
Berne will partner on the project with other UVA Engineering faculty members including Jesse Pappas, project Co-Director and Co-PI, who is an Assistant Professor of Engineering and Society. Pappas came to UVA from Wake Forest Engineering and the Program for Leadership and Character.
The ECSI will have a three-year project timeline, in accordance with the grant, but with an intention to pursue the cultivation and education of character strength well beyond the three-year project funding. Planning and initial activities will begin this academic year.
About UVA Engineering
As part of the top-ranked, comprehensive University of Virginia, UVA Engineering is one of the nation’s oldest and most respected engineering schools, with a mission to make the world a better place by creating and disseminating knowledge and by preparing future engineering leaders. Outstanding students and faculty from around the world choose UVA Engineering because of its growing and internationally recognized education and research programs. UVA is among the top engineering schools in the United States for the four-year graduation rate of undergraduate students and among the top-growing public engineering schools in the country for the rate of Ph.D. enrollment growth. Learn more at engineering.virginia.edu.
About the Program for Leadership and Character
The mission of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University is to inspire, educate, and empower leaders of character to serve humanity. Through innovative teaching, creative programming, and cutting-edge research, they aim to transform the lives of students, foster an inclusive culture of leadership and character, and catalyze a broader public conversation that places character at the center of leadership. Supported through a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., the Program developed the Educating Character Initiative to support a wider community of individuals and institutions to educate character within colleges and universities.