On Saturday, February 11, Senior Vice President and GE Digital Chief Technology Officer Dr. Colin Parris will be honored as the 2023 Black Engineer of the Year for his contributions to science and engineering and his work in digital transformation.  He is the 37th  Black Engineer of the Year to be celebrated for excellence in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.

The first recipient of the Black Engineer of the Year award in 1987 was Dr. John B. Slaughter. Back then, Black representation among the 1.6 million engineers in the United States was 2% or approx 32,000 men and women.

Today. Black workers comprise 11% of employment across all occupations and 9% of STEM workers. According to the Pew Research Center, this is unchanged from 2016.  African Americans account for just 5% of engineers and 7% of workers in computer occupations. Here’s a list of all the past winners of the prestigious Black Engineer of the Year award.

The 2020s
Lieutenant General Bruce T. Crawford, 2020 Black Engineer of the Year (U.S. Army Chief Information Officer (CIO)/G-6)
Gerald Johnson, 2021 Black Engineer of the Year (Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing, General Motors)
Ted Colbert, 2022 Black Engineer of the Year (President and CEO of Boeing Global Services)

The 2010s

John D. Harris, 2010 Black Engineer of the Year (Vice President, Contracts and Supply Chain, Raytheon)
Lloyd Howell, 2011 Black Engineer of the Year (Executive Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton)
David L. Steward, 2012 Black Engineer of the Year (Chairman of the Board, World Wide Technology, Inc.)
Freeman A. Hrabowski, 2013 Black Engineer of the Year (President, University of Maryland Baltimore County)
Stephanie C. Hill, 2014 Black Engineer of the Year (President, Information Systems & Global Solutions, Lockheed Martin)
Ed T. Welburn, 2015 Black Engineer of the Year (Vice President of Global Design, General Motors)
Christopher T. Jones, 2016 Black Engineer of the Year (Corporate Vice President and President, Northrop Grumman Technology)
Eugene DeLoatch, 2017 Black Engineer of the Year (Dean Emeritus, Morgan State University, School of Engineering)
Alicia Boler Davis, 2018 Black Engineer of the Year (Executive Vice President, Global Manufacturing, General Motors)
Anthony Mitchell, 2019 Black Engineer of the Year (Executive Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton)

The 2000s

Mark E. Dean, 2000 Black Engineer of the Year (Director, IBM Research Laboratory)
Shirley Ann Jackson, 2001 Black Engineer of the Year (President and CEO, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
Rodney O’Neal, 2002 Black Engineer of the Year (Executive Vice President of Delphi Automotive Systems)
Lydia Thomas, 2003 Black Engineer of the Year (President and CEO, Mitretek Systems)
Anthony James, 2004 Black Engineer of the Year (President and CEO, Savannah Electric)
William D. Smith, 2005 Black Engineer of the Year (President, Parsons Brinkerhoff Quade & Douglass)
Linda C. Gooden, 2006 Black Engineer of the Year (President, Lockheed Martin Information Technology)
Rodney C. Adkins, 2007 Black Engineer of the Year (Vice President, Development, IBM)
Reginald Van Lee, 2008 Black Engineer of the Year (Senior Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton)
Wanda M. Austin, 2009 Black Engineer of the Year (President and CEO, The Aerospace Corporation)

The 1990s

Arlington W. Carter, 1990 Black Engineer of the Year (Vice President and General Manager, Missile Systems Division, Boeing)
Guion “Guy” Stewart Bluford, 1991 Black Engineer of the Year (NASA Astronaut)
Arnold F. Stancell, 1992 Black Engineer of the Year (Professor of Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)
James W. Mitchell, 1993 Black Engineer of the Year (Analytical Chemistry research department head, Bell Laboratories)
William R. Wiley, 1994 Black Engineer of the Year (Principal Executive, Battelle Memorial Institute)
Walt W. Braithwaite, 1995 Black Engineer of the Year (Vice President, Information Systems, Boeing Commercial Airplane group)
Albert J. Edmonds, 1996 Black Engineer of the Year (Director, Defense Information Systems Agency)
Arthur Johnson, 1997 Black Engineer of the Year (Corporate Vice President, Lockheed Martin Corporation)
Joe N. Ballard, 1998 Black Engineer of the Year (Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
Paul Caldwell, 1999 Black Engineer of the Year (Chairman and General Manager, Mobil Producing Nigeria)

The 1980s
Dr. John B. Slaughter, 1987 Black Engineer of the Year (Chancellor of the University of Maryland, College Park)
Erroll B. Davis Jr., 1988 Black Engineer of the Year (CEO and president, Wisconsin Power and Light Company)
Capt. Donnie Cochran, 1989 Black Engineer of the Year (Aviator, Flight Demonstration Squadron Blue Angels)