Janice (Jan) Ash, PE, has received the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of South Florida College of Engineering. The award recognizes alumni who have provided distinguished contributions to the profession, the field of engineering, the college, or society at large.

Ash, manager of municipal and utilities services for our Southeast Operations, has provided scholarships to engineering students for more than 20 years, but her commitment goes well beyond this financial one. She has given many years of service on the USF College of Engineering Advisory Board, which is responsible for advising and counseling on academic and fundraising initiatives. Ash has served as chairwoman of the USF Engineering Alumni Society, which organizes fundraising activities for the College.

It is important to the College to have alumni come back and spend time with students, says Janet Gillis, communications and marketing officer with the College. “They rely on these professional connections for mentoring opportunities and professional career advice,” Gillis says. “It is especially important for our female students to have a professional woman engineer as a mentor, since the field is male-dominated.”