Award-Winning End to an Amazing Career
ASEE recognizes Karen Bursic with its prestigious Donald G. Newnan Award as she retires from the Swanson School of Engineering
Before teaching her first university course, Karen Bursic worked as an industrial engineer on the floor of a General Motors plant and in offices at professional services company Ernst & Young. Armed with practical experience and a commitment to innovating and testing new teaching methodologies, she would later thrive as an educator, and what started as a part-time position at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering transformed into a remarkable career that has spanned more than 30 years.
This past May, as Bursic transitioned to emeritus faculty, the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) recognized her contributions to engineering education with its prestigious 2026 Donald G. Newnan National Engineering Economy Teaching Excellence Award. Bursic was honored in person at the 2026 ASEE Annual Conference, held in Charlotte, North Carolina, June 21 – 24. The award, which celebrates exceptional teaching and scholarship, is a testament to Bursic’s dedication to her students, to industrial engineering, and to the craft of teaching.
On the plant floor
When Bursic enrolled at Pitt in 1980, she knew she wanted to be an engineer but wasn’t sure what kind. As she recalled, “I picked industrial engineering because they said you get to use these new things called computers a lot.”
Bursic thrived in the program and after earning her bachelor’s degree, she took a job with General Motors at a metal-stamping plant in West Mifflin, PA, where she became a supervisor on the plant floor. While at GM, she enrolled in graduate courses at Pitt, earning her MS in industrial engineering.
Although Bursic would later work as a senior consultant at professional services company Ernst & Young, she continued graduate courses at Pitt and earned her PhD in 1990.
Of her early successes, Bursic is grateful for her thesis advisor, David Cleland, who wrote the book on project management and is considered a leading figure in the field. “He was probably the most influential person early in my career because he never doubted that I could do the PhD. He made sure I progressed through the program and never questioned my ability as a female engineer, which was kind of a big thing back then.”
Bursic also credits her husband, Frank Bursic (BSECE ’80, MSIE ’87), who supported them as she pursued her PhD. “He encouraged me throughout my career,” she said.
Into the classroom
By 1994, Bursic had taken time to start a family but wanted to translate the realities of the production floor into the classroom. She taught a course at Penn State and others through professional societies. Then Harvey Wolfe, emeritus professor of industrial engineering at the Swanson School, hired Bursic to teach part time at her alma mater.
Back at Pitt, Bursic quickly immersed herself in pedagogy. She’d been a member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) since studying as an undergraduate and would then join ASEE. She found support from Professor Bopaya Bidanda, who was then chair of industrial engineering and who encouraged her to attend conferences and take on leadership positions.
Bursic also learned from mentors like Kim LaScola Needy (BSIE ’84, MSIE ’87), former professor of industrial engineering at Pitt and now Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas. The two had met as undergraduates, and LaScola Needy became a supportive colleague who, as Bursic said, “still mentors me today.”
LaScola Needy served as the undergraduate program director, and when she stepped down from this role, she encouraged Bursic to apply. “That's what I did, and the rest is history.” That history has involved advising countless students, helping them progress in the program just as she had years earlier.
“Karen is one of the best hires we made,” Bidanda said. “During her time, she transformed our undergrad program into a leading-edge program that had initiatives that no other industrial engineering program had.”
Bursic had begun teaching full time and applied what she was learning at conferences and in the literature. “When active learning first became a thing, I would always sign up to any workshop that I could. I would go to them all and see what techniques I could use to improve teaching.”
For Bursic, though, it wasn’t enough to just try something new. She applied her industrial engineer principles to test the efficacy of these techniques. She turned her classes into teaching labs to collect data and see what worked. She immersed herself in assessing student learning.
Her research and conversations with colleagues like Mary Besterfield-Sacre and Larry Shuman led Bursic to write “An Engineering Economy Concept Inventory,” which was published in the journal The Engineering Economist and later won the ASEE Eugene L. Grant Award, which is annually given to the best paper published in that journal.
“It stunned me,” Bursic said of the award. “I was not expecting that.”
It was one of many honors for Bursic. She is a Fellow of IISE and ASEE and has received IISE’s Engineering Economy Wellington Award and the Engineering Economy Division Outstanding Teaching Award. In 2014, she was named the Swanson School’s Outstanding Educator.
These awards reflect Bursic’s dedication to her craft and to supporting her students, a commitment that extends beyond the classroom. Just as Bursic credits invaluable mentors throughout her career, she has become that very person for junior faculty.
“Karen was instrumental in how I advise industrial engineering students,” said Renee Clark, associate professor of industrial engineering at the Swanson School, who was recognized as the 2025 Swanson School Educator of the Year. “When I was learning how to do this, no question I asked her was ever too simple or too repetitive. Her responses sent me down the path of being able to significantly contribute to my department in this way today.”
“Karen’s contributions to our program and our students cannot be overstated,” said Lisa Maillart, Leighton E. Orr and Mary N. Orr Professor and department chair of industrial engineering. “She is an exceptional teacher and advisor and a supportive colleague who uplifts all those around her. This award is a perfect culmination to an amazing career.”
In retirement, Bursic is excited to spend more time with her five grandchildren. “That's the number one thing – family,” she said. She also plans to be more active in her church. And she’s planning to teach engineering management to University of Nebraska graduate students online, asynchronously, so she might not be done with teaching just yet.