North Carolina Agricultural and Technical (A&T) State University announced this week that Stephanie Luster-Teasley, Ph.D., will serve as interim dean of the College of Engineering, effective May 16. Luster-Teasley has been vice provost for undergraduate education since May 2021. (

“Dr. Luster-Teasley has demonstrated her deep commitment to student success and student experience throughout her career at North Carolina A&T,” said Interim Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Tonya Smith-Jackson, Ph.D. “With her focus on cultivating leaders who excel at academics, innovation, and research, she is prepared to advance the college’s mission to create innovative and collaborative solutions that address the evolving societal and economic challenges that our state, nation, and world are facing.”

Luster-Teasley has served as a faculty member in the engineering college’s Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering since 2004.
During her tenure as department chair from 2016 to 2020, she increased enrollment from 240 to 321 students, revived alumni support and engagement to include service and donations, and renewed accreditations with the Accreditation Board for Engineering & Technology (ABET).

“Over the last 16 years, I have been driven by a deep commitment and care for my students,” said Luster-Teasley. “As interim College of Engineering dean, I will continue to champion the excitement of the real-world, hands-on experience and meaningful research in support of A&T’s mission to transform society with exceptional teaching, learning, discovery, and community engagement.”

Luster-Teasley has received patents from the United States, Great Britain, and Canada for the development of a controlled-release chemical oxidation polymer system for remediation of water and wastewater. She is the first Black American woman and first faculty member at North Carolina A&T to receive international patents. Her technology was licensed in 2017 by a company to market nationally as an emerging remediation method for groundwater and soil contamination.

Her research interests include environmental remediation, water sustainability, and engineering education. Overall, her research and professional development grants have yielded more than $8 million in funding.

She has been funded by the U.S. Department of Education for developing a mentoring program in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM); by the National Science Foundation for developing case studies modules in science labs; and by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund to implement science programs for middle school girls, and others. In 2010, she led the North Carolina A&T team that developed the National 4-H Science Youth Day experiment which was used to teach millions of K-8 students worldwide about water quality, energy use, and global warming.

Luster-Teasley serves as co-principal investigator for the North Carolina A&T ADVANCE-IT grant, which seeks to increase equity and help implement programs for female faculty to successfully progress through academia from assistant to full professorship.

In recognition of Luster-Teasley’s excellence in teaching, research and service, she received the 2005 Educational Leadership Award at the Women of Color in STEM Conference,  the 2006 N.C. A&T State University Rookie Researcher of the Year Award and the 2008 N.C. A&T State University Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award.  Additionally, she received one of the highest awards conferred for teaching in the UNC System in 2013, and in 2014, the DuPont Minorities in Engineering Award at the National American Society for Engineering Education.

Dr. Stephanie Luster-Teasley, chair of the Dept. of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at #NCAT and alumna, received awards from the American Society for Engineering Education and MSU.

Read more for why they are BIG wins for her & #HBCUs. https://t.co/eclPVKX8X0 pic.twitter.com/aroW4JhLi9

— North Carolina A&T (@ncatsuaggies) July 7, 2020

In 2018, she received the Black Engineer of the Year Innovation Award, and the Michigan State University (MSU) Civil and Environmental Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award in 2020. After earning her bachelor’s degree. in chemical engineering at North Carolina A&T, she went on to earn a master’s degree in chemical engineering and a Ph.D. in environmental engineering, both from Michigan State University. She returned to North Carolina A&T in 2004 after working in private industry as an environmental engineer.