Todd Vanek has been named as director of the Engineering Technology Management (ETM) and Online Learning Programs in Washington State University’s Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture.
Established in 1982, the ETM program offers an online master’s degree and graduate certificates in engineering and technology management. The program teaches management skills to engineering and business professionals, including managing projects, people, and technology in the workplace. For the past several years, US News & World Report has listed the program among the best online graduate engineering programs.
“The Engineering Technology Management program plays an important role in helping to grow the skills of professional engineers and to support industry in Washington and beyond,” said Mary Rezac, dean of the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture. “Under Todd’s leadership, I look forward to the program’s continued development and success.”
Vanek has served as assistant director of the ETM program where he has managed the program’s operations, including fiscal, personnel and administrative management, marketing, communications and corporate relations, and strategic planning. He also oversaw marketing and finances for the Professional Science Master’s degree in Electrical Power Engineering.
He is a former mayor of Colfax, WA and has held other leadership positions in the United States Navy and manufacturing and retail fields.
His background in education includes serving as a US Navy instructor and master training specialist, work in early childhood and K-12 education, corporate training in process improvement, curriculum development, program evaluation, and undergraduate and graduate teaching. He has also taught concepts, tools, and techniques that are part of the ETM curricula. At Decagon Devices, Inc., for instance, he worked with engineering, manufacturing and leadership on process improvement as part of earning an ISO 9001 certification.
Vanek holds a PhD in educational psychology from WSU and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Norfolk State University.
