Kresta appointed dean of UPEI Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
Suzanne Kresta has been appointed the new dean of the Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering (FSDE) at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), for a five-year term effective Sept. 1, 2024.
Kresta was dean of the University of Saskatchewan College of Engineering (USask Engineering) from January 2018 until June 2023.
She has a long-standing connection to UPEI, as she grew up in Charlottetown and both her mother and her uncle taught at the university, according to the UPEI announcement of her appointment.
Under Kresta’s leadership at USask Engineering, the college launched its redesigned first-year program – RE-ENGINEERED, which received the D2L Innovation Award from the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. The cohort of female faculty members in the college doubled and Kresta implemented a required Indigenous cultural contextualization course for all first-year engineering students.
In 2023 Kresta was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (Saskatchewan) for her contributions as the first female Dean of Engineering in the province of Saskatchewan. She was also recently recognized as Educator of the Year by the Saskatoon Engineering Society, an award which recognizes innovation, organization, mentorship and service to the profession in public education.
USask Engineering congratulates Dr. Kresta on her appointment and wishes her much success as she returns to her home province.