Associate Chair Lisa Abrams honored as 2018 Ohio State Glass Breaker

Department of Engineering Education Associate Chair Lisa Abrams has been recognized as a 2018 Ohio State Glass Breaker. She is one of six Ohio State women being honored this year by the President and Provost’s Council on Women for their extraordinary achievements and their efforts to improve workplace culture and empower other women across the university.

Abrams is known as an educator of inclusiveness and a champion of women. She has spent nearly two decades at Ohio State and has a passion for bringing women engineers together to support and learn from each other. She has created and taught “Leading with Confidence” classes for women and “Inclusive Leadership” classes for men. The courses empower women and help men find ways to be allies to women and minorities and understand gender biases.

“Some of my most rewarding experiences have been in education working with students. It’s really, really heartwarming and rewarding when the men come back after they've graduated and say, ‘Your class really made a difference. I know what it means to be an ally,’” said Abrams. 

Abrams said the next step is to take her inclusive leadership class into industry, to teach men new to the workforce how to be an ally to women and how to be inclusive leaders.

An important part of President Michael Drake’s 2020 Vision for Ohio State is a diversity and inclusion component that states the university will be a welcoming place for people “regardless of race, class, culture, gender, orientation or identity.” The 2018 Glass Breakers embody the spirit of that mission through their actions both on and off campus.

"They have worked tirelessly, not only to move forward in their own careers, but also to create opportunities for women at Ohio State. They are role models, shining examples of possibility for fellow faculty and staff and inspiring mentors to students," said President Drake.

Read Abrams’s Q&A about her work to make an impact on the lives of other women engineers and what it means to be a Glass Breaker.