Engineering Character Strength Initiative
The ECSI builds more ethical engineering leaders by empowering UVA Engineering students with the education and experiences to face today’s professional challenges with honor and determination.
We can be part of the solution by introducing character-building initiatives like this one.
In the News
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UVA Engineering Announces Character-Building Initiative
The New Engineering Character Strength Initiative (ECSI) will prepare STEM students to be ethical engineering leaders.
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Boeing Whistleblower Delivers UVA Engineering’s Inaugural ‘Moments of Strength’ Talk
Whistleblower and former Boeing manager Ed Pierson spoke to a capacity crowd in McLeod Hall on November 14, telling UVA Engineering students: "You are the protectors out there."
About the Initiative
The ECSI focuses 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 ECSI is funded by an Institutional Impact grant from the Educating Character Initiative (ECI), awarded by Wake Forest University’s Program for Leadership and Character and supported by a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. The goal of the grant program is to strengthen the understanding, integration and education of character in undergraduate institutions.
The UVA School of Engineering is committed to character development as a key element of its educational mission.
Our Leadership
Rosalyn W. Berne
Rosalyn W. Berne, PhD is the Anne Shirley Carter Olsson Professor of Applied Ethics and Director of the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science (OEC) in the Department of Engineering and Society, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, where she has been a faculty member since 1999.
Jesse Pappas
Jesse Pappas is Assistant Professor of Engineering and Society in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia (UVA). As one of the only social psychologists in the U.S. with a full-time appointment in engineering, he works at the intersection of individual experience and sociotechnical systems.