Rachelle Hollander

Rachelle Hollander Ph. D.

Title: Director of the Center for Engineering, Ethics, and Society

Organization: National Academy of Engineering

Contact Information

Phone: 202-334-3068
Email: rhollander at nae.edu
Mailing Address
500 Fifth Street, NW
Keck 1011
Washington, DC 20001

Rachelle Hollander directs the Center for Engineering, Ethics, and Society (CEES) at the National Academy of Engineering. She is also a senior research scholar at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park. In 2006, Dr. Hollander received the Olmsted Award “for innovative contributions to the liberal arts within engineering education” from the American Society of Engineering Education’s Liberal Education Division. On retiring from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2006, she also received special acknowledgment for her professional contributions at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) Annual Meeting, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting. Dr. Hollander is a Fellow of the AAAS and currently a member of the Electorate Nominating Committee of the Section on History and Philosophy of Science. For many years Dr. Hollander directed the science and engineering ethics activities at the National Science Foundation. In the course of her career, Dr. Hollander has been instrumental in the development of the fields of research ethics and professional responsibility, engineering ethics, and ethics and risk management. She has written articles on applied ethics in numerous fields, and on science policy and citizen participation. Dr. Hollander is currently principal investigator on two NSF-funded workshop grants and a grant to enhance the NAE Online Ethics Center (www.onlineethics.org) in CEES. She received her doctorate in philosophy in 1979 from the University of Maryland, College Park; she was a Visiting Professor in the Science and Technology Studies Department at RPI in 1989-1990 and a Visiting Scholar in the Department of History of Science, Medicine, and Technology at JHU, 2001-2002.

Questions answered:

Q: I coordinate an FYE course for engineering freshmen; we include one 50-minute class on ethics led by a Faculty & Student Advisor (class size is 8-13 freshmen, 30 sections). The case studies are valuable resources - thank you for your work in updating this library.We receive requests for video scenarios that are quick (5-10 minutes) and pose professional engineering situations and/or situations for students studying engineering (lab theft, solutions manual availability, software piracy, etc.). Duke University produced some videos years ago but they are now outdated. Are other such videos available? They can be excellent classroom materials in this age of multimedia.

The National Institute for Engineering Ethics has a collection of videos that portray ethical problems for practicing engineers. They are more than 10-15 minutes though; more like an hour. They can be stopped at various places where issues arise to provoke discussion. NIEE distributed the videos to the deans of engineering schools, so I wonder what's become of those copies. In any event, you can probably find out about them and maybe get copies from NIEE, and their url is <a href="http://www.niee.org/murdoughcenter/"> www.niee.org/murdoughcenter/</a>.

Q: Do we know whether formal instruction in ethics has any impact on science and engineering students?

A: The University of Massachusetts Amherst has initiated a digital ethics library that it says "will also provide resources necessary to examine the advantages and disadvantages of using stand alone, off-the-shelf, online training packages and programs for teaching ethics. While these programs and materials can be efficient methods of teaching ethics, many experts question their effectiveness (See Kalichman 2005; NAE 2009; Schrag 2005; Sieber 2005; Smith-Doer, Journal of Empirical Research in Human Research, 2009, and others). The beta library will be a resource for institutions as they decide how their institutions will ensure appropriate ethics training for researchers."

Q: I am trying to figure out the best way that Lesley University can implement a RCR plan and would appreciate some input from someone at the OEC. Thank you!

Here are a few suggestions:

Under oec/resources/institutional programs there’s a link to the CGS PSI: http://www.scholarlyintegrity.org/ShowContent.aspx? id=406#. On the right hand side of that page, there’s a highlight to the Project on Scholarly Integrity: A Framework for Collaborative Action. That 2008 paper has a lot of good suggestions. It is geared toward schools with graduate programs in the sciences, but many of the suggestions are generally useful.

The description of the Penn State program below gives another approach, again focused on the sciences but generally useful: http://www.research.psu.edu/orp/sari/. The Rock Ethics Institute at Penn State also has useful resources: http://php.scripts.psu.edu/dept/rockethics/index.php. Finally, Lesley University administrators and faculty interested in RCR might contact the Responsible Conduct of Research Educational Committee, a committee of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics; information at http://www.indiana.edu/~appe/rcrec.html.

Q: I am interested in keeping up with new developments in ethics education in science and engineering. Any recommendations?

One multi-disciplinary membership organization with a focus on practical and professional ethics, including science and engineering ethics and ethics education, is the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. The APPE website is at http://www.indiana.edu/~appe/. In APPE, there is a special group that focuses on responsible conduct of research; you can see its mission and membership at http://www.indiana.edu/~appe/rcrec.html. A leading journal in the field is Science and Engineering Ethics at http://www.springer.com/philosophy/ethics/journal/11948

Cite this page: "Rachelle Hollander" Online Ethics Center for Engineering 7/20/2009 National Academy of Engineering Accessed: Thursday, September 02, 2010 <www.onlineethics.org/People/Community/19328.aspx>