The National Academy of Engineering will announce its Class of 2026 new members on February 10. In anticipation, BEYA highlights past award winners from previous NAE member classes.
NAE members are senior professionals in business, academia, and government who have demonstrated exceptional technical achievement and leadership.
They volunteer their expertise to guide federal laws and regulations, enhance government programs, shape research directions, and inform public understanding of critical issues.
Stephanie C. Hill, a 2025 NAE member, was honored for her leadership in innovative projects spanning aerospace, defense systems, cybersecurity, rotary-wing systems, and uncrewed aerial vehicles.
A Career Communications Group Hall of Fame member, Hill was also named Engineer of the Year by USBE in 2014 for inspiring hundreds of young people to pursue engineering.
Erroll B. Davis, USBE magazine’s 1988 Engineer of the Year, was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2021 for leadership in the research and development of integrating renewable resources with the grid and in public education. In 2024, he was elected Chair of the National Academy of Engineering.
Christopher T. Jones, chief of operations at The Leadership Compass and retired Northrop Grumman executive, became an NAE member in 2021 for his leadership in defense logistics, sustainment, training, and system readiness supporting U.S. national security. He received the 2016 USBE magazine Engineer of the Year award for his significant contributions to organizations such as NACME, NSBE, and BEYA.
Kerrie L. Holley, elected in 2023, is a former CTO and Distinguished Engineer at IBM. He received the Chairman’s Award at the 2003 BEYA Conference for his impact on IBM’s products, profits, and management, and was named one of the 50 Most Important Blacks in Research Science by Career Communications Group.
Other BEYA winners elected to the NAE include Norma B. Clayton, recognized for her "leadership in transforming manufacturing processes and supply chain management and for innovative training programs for commercial aerospace industries."
Additional distinguished NAE members include Dr. John Brooks Slaughter, the first recipient of the BEYA Engineer of the Year Award in 1987. He was an NAE member from 1982 until he died in 2023.
There's also Mark E. Dean, the 2000 USBE magazine Engineer of the Year and NAE inductee in 2001; and Rodney Adkins, a retired IBM executive and USBE magazine’s 2007 Engineer of the Year, inducted in 2005.
Dean was recognized for his pivotal contributions to computer engineering, including the development of the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus and for leading the team that created the first one-gigahertz processor chip.
Adkins was recognized for his contributions to the development of personal computer technology, including the IBM ThinkPad, and leadership in IBM's server and storage systems.
