Isiah Warner, recipient of the Presidential Award of Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering mentoring from former president Bill Clinton, will be this year’s College of Engineering diversity keynote speaker. Warner is currently a chemistry professor in the University of Louisiana and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as well as the vice chancellor for Strategic Initiatives.

In a lecture sponsored by the College of Engineering and the Committee on Lectures, Warner will speak about mentoring students and the increasing of underrepresented minority groups in science, technology, engineering and math fields.

“[Warner] is very well-respected for the work he has done for minority graduate and doctorate students who are in STEM fields,” said John Taylor, an ISU program coordinator and an executive in the Emerging Leaders Academy.

Taylor spoke about the benefits of mentoring programs such as Warner’s and how they are helping address the issue of underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering and math fields.

“Iowa State is doing a better job of keeping more minority students in STEM programs … this is in part due to people like Isiah Warner coming and giving their best practices and feedback to ISU students and faculty,” Taylor said.

Warner graduated from Southern University in Louisiana with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1968. He later attained his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Washington in 1977. He is specifically a professor in the field of analytical and environmental chemistry.