Kellogg Institute Faculty Fellow Tracy Kijewski-Correa, professor of civil engineering and global affairs, has been appointed the acting William J. Pulte Director of the Pulte Institute for Global Development for the 2022-2023 academic year. She will serve in this role while Ray Offenheiser, the William J. Pulte Director of the Pulte Institute for Global Development, is on leave.
In her role as acting director, Kijewski-Correa will be instrumental in maintaining the Pulte Institute’s excellence in impact-driven research and programming, while strengthening its linkages to the University’s research and educational missions. Not only will she act as a faculty liaison between the Pulte Institute and the broader Notre Dame Community, but she will also support the Institute in aligning its strategic planning process with the processes unfolding at both the School and University levels.
"As a long time advocate, friend and partner of the Pulte institute, I am honored to join the team in what will be a critical year of strategic planning at the institute, school and university level," said Kijewski-Correa. "I look forward to learning from the Pulte team, discovering together how we might galvanize the university’s agenda to address global poverty and inequality over the next decade."
Kijewski-Correa’s research interests align closely with the Pulte Institute’s mission to alleviate global poverty and inequality. Her interdisciplinary scholarship is dedicated to enhancing the resilience and sustainability of hazard-exposed communities, with an emphasis on conceiving holistic responses to infrastructure vulnerabilities and developing tools that support science-informed decision making by diverse stakeholders. In addition to her joint appointment in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences and the Keough School of Global Affairs, she is also the co-director of the Keough School’s Integration Lab (i-Lab) and the co-founder of Engineering2Empower.
"We are extremely excited to have Tracy join the Pulte Institute for Global Development as the Acting William J. Pulte Director, helping us continue to grow our work to fight global poverty and inequality," said Michael Sweikar, Executive Director of the Pulte Institute. “Tracy brings years of experience working in critical areas of importance for the Pulte Institute to fight poverty, as well as a proven ability to connect across disciplines, moving from research to impact in local communities."