The award plaque for Dr. Saukin’s commitment to STEM outreach.
WALTER SAUKIN / COURTESY
By Angelina Persaud, Managing Editor/News Editor
Walter Saukin, Ph.D., has been honored for his dedicated service to the teaching and encouragement of youth to join STEM professions after receiving the Chair’s Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACEC-NY).
Saukin has been a professor in the civil engineering department at Manhattan University for over 40 years and has served on the board of various engineering councils and organizations. Namely, he was the executive secretary of the New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA), where he was also elected into the NYWEA Hall of Fame. He served on the Academic Advisory Board of the Bronx Engineering and Technical Academy (BETA) as well as the Advisory Board of the Yonkers School System.
However, Saukin’s journey to becoming a professor at MU was deeply rooted in his childhood upbringing in the South Bronx. His sixth-grade teacher taught him how to read for the first time and his father was a significant influence in his choice of civil engineering.
“I was always under the impression growing up in the South Bronx that education was the answer,” Saukin said. “Once I learned how to read, I felt empowered. I studied hard, I kept the focus, but at the same time, I maintained my activities.”
Saukin attended City College and graduated with his bachelor’s in 1966 with his master’s degree following shortly. He then went on to pursue his doctorate in engineering.
“I felt that college professors and an academic environment as compared to an industrial environment was more consistent with my disposition,” Saukin said. “You only have to teach so many courses, you have to do research, and that’s kind of cool because it’s like exercising your mind to keep in shape.”
After taking on a consulting job at Princeton University and teaching in the civil engineering department at Lafayette College, Saukin finally found his entrance to MU when he met a Jasper. He quickly became involved with the campus community as a way to make a professional name for himself while also spreading awareness about the institution.
“One of my first projects here is I helped to renovate a couple of the civil engineering labs,” Saukin said. “Through the department, I had the opportunity to run the National [American Society of Civil Engineers] ASCE Environmental Conference. And then, roughly in the 1980s, I had the opportunity to become the Executive Secretary of the New York Water Environment Association [NYWEA].”
Before resigning from his executive role, he created student chapters for NYWEA, which continues to be active today.
At the core of Saukin’s career is his ability to foster a connection between youth and STEM careers as well as creating outreach opportunities for them to seek greater career possibilities.
He realized that local families, particularly immigrant parents and minority groups, weren’t always given the same resources to help their children find answers about their career paths. Thus, he created the high school summer outreach program to help youth in the Bronx find encouragement to pursue higher education.
“In 1982 is when the program opened up, and I began with a primary concentration on women and minorities…I’m trying to help everybody,” Saukin said. “I was working with the development office and alumni to raise the funds to help sustain the summer program. I had applications for close to 200 students and it was continuously growing until now where it’s closer to 650 students.”
He also noted that the majority of the summer high school students who participated in the camp also went on to become members of ACE, including some as current MU students.
According to an article published on manhattan.edu, Saukin’s high school outreach programs, “Draw 120 students from an application pool of approximately 600 – with a particular focus on young women and minority students. Historically, 84% of those students who participate in the program enter the engineering industry and 97% study one of the STEM subjects in college.”
Other members of the School of Engineering praised Saukin’s efforts in the department as well as his work ethic as a professor.
Anirban De, Ph.D., interim dean of the School of Engineering, has known Saukin for over 20 years, since De was hired by him in 2002 to be a civil engineering professor at MU.
De spoke highly of Saukin, adding emphasis on the enthusiasm and energetic spirit he brings to the department.
“He is very hands-on,” De said. “He greets everybody. He makes them feel welcome at the institution, makes them feel good about what they’re doing, and cheers everybody up. He has a very positive spirit, which is always good for his colleagues, for his students.”
De went on to highlight that several civil and environmental engineering faculty have been honored for various awards in the past. Each one, including Saukin’s, brings positive attention to the department and MU as a whole.
“This kind of attention helps us promote our achievements…brings positive light,” De said. “In the longer run, or more immediately, our students realize that there are faculty here who get recognized for what they’re doing here every day.”
Saukin emphasized the feeling he had when he first sat on the main quad on campus. He noted that during a time of unrest in the college, he hopes that students can find solace in the essence of the Jasper community.
“I had seen a lot of academic environments, but I remember when I first came to Manhattan University, and I sat up in that quad and I looked at the chapel, you can actually feel mind, body and spirit come together holistically,” Saukin said. “I think that at Manhattan University, we’re so structured that there’s a real possibility for personal and institutional success on almost any level.”