Jenni Case

Jennifer Case is Professor and Head of the Department of Engineering Education in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. Prior to this appointment in 2017 she was a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she retains an honorary appointment.

Case was a pioneer in the nascent field of Engineering Education Research (EER), commencing her scholarship in the mid 1990s in the context of post-apartheid transformations in the system of engineering education in South Africa. With a unique synthesis of practically-grounded curriculum reform, drawing on research in higher education studies and focused clearly on advancing learning outcomes in engineering programs, she developed a strong international reputation in Engineering Education heading to the leadership role that she now occupies at a leading US Department in this field.

Her work has been widely published and well cited, with over 50 journal publications and two monographs. She is a joint editor-in-chief for the top international journal Higher Education.

She spent 21 years at the University of Cape Town (UCT), teaching in its undergraduate program in Chemical Engineering, as well as leading in program administration and curriculum reform. She was a founder member and then Director for the Centre for Research in Engineering Education at the University of Cape Town. She was the founding president of the South African Society for Engineering Education (SASEE). In 2011 she was a Mandela Mellon fellow at Harvard University. At Virginia Tech she leads a vibrant Department that has a prominent and still expanding national and international reputation in Engineering Education. She continues to teach at both undergraduate and graduate levels and advises Ph.D. students in the context of a lively research group. She is a sought after speaker and advisor in both Engineering Education and Higher Education both in the USA and abroad.