J. Carter Tiernan
Southwest Regional Director
Assistant Dean for Student Affairs in the College of Engineering
University of Texas at Arlington

Dr. J. Carter M. Tiernan received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1983. She then joined Texas Instruments in Dallas, where she worked on software design for electro-optics systems and developed part of a multi-agent artificial intelligence system to support single-seat fighter pilots. During her time at TI, Dr. Tiernan completed an MSCS at the University of Texas at Dallas. She began her studies toward a Ph.D. while at TI and finished the degree while working as a faculty associate for two years at the UT Arlington Automation and Robotics Research Institute. Since becoming Assistant Dean, Dr. Tiernan has helped bring more than $3.4 million dollars of grants to the College of Engineering for engineering outreach, recruiting, retention, and scholarships. She oversees the Engineering Summer Programs which reached more than 300 students in summer 2009 through 10 different engineering camps. She coordinates undergraduate recruiting for the College, advises engineering student organizations, and conducts various school year outreach programs including the FIRST Tech Challenge, part of the US FIRST competitions, the RoPro High School Robot Programming Contest, and Engineering Saturdays. She is collaborating with the UT Arlington College of Science on future STEM outreach activities and on retention programs for current and incoming STEM undergraduates.