We are excited to announce Dr. Becky Wai-Ling Packard as keynote speaker for MCC's 2nd Annual SENDAS Conference: Nurturing Minds, Bridging Cultures, and Igniting STEM Success.

Becky Wai-Ling Packard is Mary E. Woolley Professor of Psychology and Education at Mount Holyoke College where she has been on the faculty for nearly 25 years. Packard is an expert in the area of strategic mentoring and the persistence of minoritized students in higher education, to include first-generation college students, community college transfer students, low-income students, people of color, and women in STEM fields. A translator of research into practice, Packard has visited more than 75 campuses to lead sessions on the power of mentoring, student success, and inclusive practice. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, Google, and Microsoft. In 2005, she was recognized by the White House with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the nation’s highest honor for early career scientists and engineers.

An educational psychologist by training, she teaches on motivation and organizational behavior. As a campus leader, she served as associate dean of faculty, founding director of teaching and learning, director of leadership, and senior advisor for STEM initiatives. In Spring 2018, Packard served as a Chancellor’s Leadership Fellow-in-Residence at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to contribute to campus equity initiatives. During the 18-19 academic year, she served as a faculty fellow at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor sponsored by the National Center for Institution Diversity where she advanced inclusive climate strategies in STEM departments across the sciences and engineering.

Learn more about the SENDAS Conference!