Civil and Environmental Engineering Associate Professor Michelle Marincel Payne, PhD, will empower impactful civil engineering leaders as the new Dr. Roland E. Hutchins Endowed Chair in Civil Engineering. The three-year appointment begins September 1.

“Rose-Hulman’s faculty routinely apply their talent and hard work to creating exceptional learning experiences in our scholarly community,” according to Associate Dean of Professional Development and Professor of English Richard House, PhD. “Through endowments like this one, our benefactors enable those efforts. These positions are awarded to outstanding professors, but they truly benefit the whole institution, especially our students.”

Marincel Payne joined the Rose-Hulman faculty in 2013 and has since been involved in many creative initiatives. Her involvement with story-driven learning began in 2022 when she participated in the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN)-supported “StoryMakers” workshop, after which she was invited to apply for a KEEN Fellowship and attend the “Art and Science of Storytelling” workshop the following year. Since then, Marincel Payne has led story-driven learning on Rose-Hulman’s campus to improve student learning both in and out of the classroom. As a 2023-24 KEEN Fellow, she integrated story-driven learning into required courses in the civil engineering curriculum and led the development of Story@Rose, a student podcast designed to help students connect across the campus and the larger engineering community. 

Through her work as the Hutchins Endowed Chair, Marincel Payne plans to design and implement curricular innovations that will encourage Rose-Hulman students to develop leadership through learning innovative psychological safety and conflict navigation skills using story-driven learning.

“For civil engineers, leadership skills enable entrepreneurial activity once the professional engineering license is obtained,” said Marincel Payne. “To support leadership development, I aim to empower students to view themselves as leaders able to work effectively on teams because they have practiced leadership and teaming skills, intentionally, in a variety of settings. There are ample opportunities for students to hone these competencies as they work in teams throughout our civil engineering curriculum.” 

In addition, Marincel Payne believes story is a tool that allows students to make connections between their past, current and potential future selves to develop their identities as civil engineers. As part of her work as the Hutchins Endowed Chair in Civil Engineering, she will continue the development of the Story@Rose podcast to include additional student narratives and alumni experiences.

“Providing time for students to develop and tell their stories is a powerful way to honor the vast experiences students bring to the classroom,” she said. “By practicing storytelling skills, students will be better prepared for interviews, and later, to build shared meaning with stakeholders or obtain funding for projects. I want students to know, own, and have the confidence and tools to tell their own stories the way they want them told.” 

The Dr. Roland E. Hutchins Endowed Chair honors the legacy of an esteemed educator who served for 32 years in Rose-Hulman’s Department of Civil Engineering.