Keynote Speaker
University of Central Florida
Associate Professor and Motivational Speaker
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A native of Oklahoma, Dr. Bush obtained her Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. In fact, in 1993 Dr. Bush became the first known African-American female to be granted a Ph.D. in the field of Engineering in the state of Oklahoma. In 2004, she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Oklahoma. In 2005, Dr. Bush graduated from the Advanced Minority Business Executive Program (AMBEP) at the Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business. Dr. Bush is a tenured Associate Professor in the Industrial |
| Engineering and Management Systems department at the University of Central Florida. She previously held the position of Martin Luther King, Jr. Visiting Associate Professor of Aeronautics & Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She maintains a faculty position primarily to be a source of support, inspiration and encouragement to minority and female engineering students. In this role, she is described as an outstanding professor and teacher. Her teaching efforts have resulted in the receipt of both the College of Engineering Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the Teaching Incentive Program Award (TIP) and in 2004 she was named Outstanding Engineering Educator of the Year by the Central Florida Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers and the Institute of Industrial Engineers. Dr. Bush has authored several books, one of which is entitled “Winners Don’t Quit…Today They Call Me Doctor.” This book provides an autobiographical snapshot of Dr. Bush’s life from the time she was a pregnant teen through the completion of her B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering. In this account she shares the difficulties that she experienced in single parenting, academically and in relationships. The finale of the story involves Dr. Bush successfully winning one of the largest graduate fellowships in the history of the University of Oklahoma. In referring to Winners Don’t Quit; Dr. Bush said “I am sharing my challenges and triumphs with the hope that this story will encourage anyone working to accomplish their life’s dream; anyone that has been discouraged by others and anyone that wants to live their life to its fullest.” Dr. Bush relocated to the Orlando, Florida area in 1993; she has been consistently involved in outreach and community service in the Orlando area, her hometown of Oklahoma City, OK and various other communities throughout the nation. Her small business, Technology Solutions & Innovations (TSI), offers two annual college scholarships to disadvantaged women. She travels around the country to give inspirational and informative lectures on women’s leadership issues, technology in America, and motivational topics. In these speaking events she often shares her challenges and triumphs in business, education and leadership. Additionally, she shares the benefits of determination, faith in a higher power, and diligence in reaching for and achieving ones goals. Her recognitions include national publications in Black Enterprise Magazine, the Florida Engineering Society Magazine, Essence, and the Institute of Industrial Engineering Magazine amongst a multitude of others. Dr. Bush has a twenty-six year old daughter, Annette and is the daughter of Maurice Sr., and LaFrance McCauley, of Oklahoma City, OK. |
Last Modified: 09/11/08
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