Today on the Getting Smart Podcast, the team is speaking with Paul Johnson, the 17th President of the Colorado School of Mines. Paul is also a global leader in education and research in engineering and science. He’s set out to solve the world’s challenges related to earth, energy, and the environment!

 

Johnson began his career at Shell Development Company in Houston, working as a Senior Research Engineer on environmental projects over six years. After that (and prior to Mines) he taught and served as the Dean at Arizona State University for 20-plus years.

 

In today’s discussion with Tom, Johnson describes dramatic improvements in student learning experiences across the campus — including more interactive and project-based learning, as well as having more students engaged in the issues of ethics and social responsibility.

 

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today’s episode.

[1:04] Tom welcomes Paul to the podcast!

[1:11] Paul speaks about his early education and why he decided to go to UC Davis for his B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering.

[3:30] What initially attracted Paul to work at Shell?

[4:43] What kind of problems did Paul work on at Shell?

[6:04] Did Paul get any exposure to Shell’s scenario planning (which it became widely known for)?

[6:49] What drove Paul’s career shift back to academia?

[7:50] What is it like to go to school today — and particularly at Mines?

[9:46] Who goes to school now? How has the student body changed over the years?

[11:23] About the complex issues and systems Mines’s graduates are getting into, and how Mines prepares them for that.

[15:45] Innovation often triggers a set of ethical issues or tough community choices. What role do engineers play in helping to inform the public dialogue about innovation?

[17:57] 40 years ago, there wasn’t a lot of focus on humanities or communication abilities in the curriculum — how has that changed today?

[19:14] What is Mines’s perspective on the subject of sustainability?

[21:33] What developments or coming innovations is Paul most excited about?

[25:35] What did Paul learn from Michael Crow at ASU?

[26:37] What does it mean to Paul that Mines is a part of the KEEN network?

[31:09] Having been with Mines for four years now, what is Paul particularly proud of that he has accomplished with the team so far?

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Paul Johnson (LinkedIn)

Colorado School of Mines

Shell Development Company

Arizona State University

Michael Crow from ASU

KEEN

 

Want to Learn More?

Check out Episode 191 on Northeastern University and how they’re transforming educator preparation. For more about computing across the curriculum, listen to Episode 190 with Dr. Amon Millner from Olin College.

 

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