Jennifer Harper Ogle, Clemson University associate professor of civil engineering, has been honored by the White House as a "Champion of Change" for her work encouraging and educating young women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The Champions of Change program was created as a part of President Barack Obama's Winning the Future initiative. The program highlights the work of a variety of community leaders, ranging from educators to entrepreneurs, and brings them to the White House to share their ideas.

As a result of the honor, Ogle joined a roundtable discussion Dec. 9 on the advancement of girls and young women in the STEM fields that will involve other "champions" as well as education leaders and delegates from White House policy offices and federal agencies.

Among the leaders in the Washington roundtable will be Ogle's colleague, Julie P. Martin, an assistant professor of engineering and science education.

Martin was invited to share her expertise on changing the stereotypes of girls in the sciences and technology, mentoring and supporting and retaining women in the STEM workforce. Her research focuses on methods of increasing the participation of women and minorities and first-generation college students in undergraduate engineering programs.

"We're very proud to have two such dynamic faculty representing us in the White House roundtable," said Larry Dooley, interim dean of Clemson's College of Engineering and Science. "Clemson has always placed a high priority on STEM education, and Julie Martin and Jennifer Ogle are at the very forefront of that mission."

An expert in transportation issues, Ogle regularly lends her experience to Clemson's Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program, leading programs for young girls who are considering careers in science and engineering fields.

In an annual program for South Carolina Girl Scouts at Clemson, she leads girls from fourth to 12th grades on scavenger hunts using Global Positioning System satellites in the same ways that she employs them in her research on transportation systems.

"We are just thrilled about Jennifer's appointment as a champion of change," said Marcia Ferranto, president and chief executive of WTS International, an organization dedicated to the professional advancement of women in transportation, which nominated Ogle for the honor. "She's been a standout leader at WTS with her efforts to elevate the importance of STEM studies for local young women and she’s on the forefront of civil engineering and professional knowledge, which is just what the United States — and the world — need to continue growing in the right direction economically."

Ogle was the first female tenured civil engineering professor at Clemson. She is a member of the President's Commission on the Status of Women at the university and chairs the diversity and outreach committee in the Glenn Department of Civil Engineering.

Her research interests range from highway safety, including crash data collection and analysis, to the dynamics of morning commute behavior. She has been principal investigator or co-investigator on 26 research projects with budgets totaling more than $8.5 million.

Ogle received bachelor's (1994) and master's (1996) degrees in civil engineering from the University of Tennessee and earned her doctorate in civil engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2005. Prior to joining the Clemson faculty she was a research associate at TTI/Texas A&M University and a research engineer at Georgia Tech.

A past president of WEPAN, the Women in Engineering ProActive Network, Martin has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award to fund her research on social factors that influence under-represented students' decisions to enter engineering fields.

She joined the Clemson faculty in 2008 after serving as the director of undergraduate engineering student recruitment and retention at the University of Houston. Martin holds degrees in materials science and engineering from North Carolina State University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.