Dr. Michelle Gervasio Named Leader of Sweet Briar’s Margaret Jones Wyllie ’45 Engineering Program

Dr. Michelle Gervasio will lead Sweet Briar’s engineering program, advancing hands-on learning, industry partnerships, and student success in STEM.

SWEET BRIAR, VA, UNITED STATES, April 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Dr. Michelle Gervasio, assistant professor of engineering and physics, will be the next leader of the ABET-accredited Margaret Jones Wyllie ’45 Engineering Program at Sweet Briar College.

An experienced educator and materials scientist with specialties in nanomaterials, nanoparticle-polymer hybrids, colloidal suspensions, and a variety of materials characterization techniques, Dr. Gervasio will assume her new title on July 1, 2026. The program’s current director, Dr. Jon Bender, will retire from his position after leading the engineering program since 2022. He will continue to serve in an advisory capacity and as an adjunct instructor, lending his expertise in research and development to the program and its students.

Dr. Gervasio joined the Sweet Briar faculty in 2019 and previously led the engineering program in 2021-2022, prior to Dr. Bender’s arrival. During that time, she coordinated and collaborated with her colleagues to prepare for their successful 2022 ABET reaccreditation and supported the program as the number of engineering science majors grew.

Dr. Gervasio, who earned both her B.S. and Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Virginia Tech, has focused on teaching, mentoring students, and scholarship. She received a Jeffress Trust Awards Program grant in interdisciplinary research, was nominated for a State Council of Higher Education in Virginia Rising Star Award, and has published numerous scholarly articles. Additionally, she has brought metallurgy and bladesmithing to Sweet Briar, an effort that recently helped Sweet Briar students take honorable mention in a national bladesmithing competition. Dr. Gervasio has provided exceptional service to the college, chairing its Assessment Committee, leading the Honors Summer Research Program as its director, serving on the Curriculum Committee, and supporting the Admissions Office's recruiting and outreach efforts to bolster enrollment in the engineering program.

“I am excited and deeply honored to be named the next director of the Margaret Wyllie Jones ’45 Engineering Program,” said Dr. Gervasio. “I look forward to continuing our focus on a hands-on, project-based curriculum and to developing further opportunities to engage with local industry as we prepare Sweet Briar students to be leading engineers.”

Sweet Briar’s engineering program has much to look forward to in the coming years. One of only two ABET-accredited programs at women’s colleges in the United States, the engineering program, in collaboration with Dr. Lisa Powell, vice president and dean of academic affairs and chief sustainability officer, will be strategically hiring faculty to grow the program in such fields as thermal fluid systems, as part of preparing Sweet Briar students to be part of a highly skilled workforce to support key industries in Central Virginia. In the coming years, the college will further invest in engineering and other STEM programs by completing a major renovation of the Guion Science Center, supported by generous gifts from alumnae and friends.

“We are grateful to Dr. Bender for his dedicated leadership over the past four years, and the benefits and outcomes of his work will continue to resonate in the program well into the future. I am excited to work with Dr. Gervasio and all of the amazing engineering faculty and technical staff as we step into the next era of the program at Sweet Briar College,” said Dr. Powell.

The Margaret Jones Wyllie ’45 Engineering Program was created in 2005, producing its first graduates in 2009, and was named in 2010 for the Sweet Briar alumna who provided a $3 million gift to fund the college’s first endowed and named academic program in its history. The endowment supports the program’s laboratory and equipment needs, its academic development and future enhancements, and scholarships for engineering majors. To learn more about the program, including summer camps for high school girls, visit sbc.edu/engineering.

Sweet Briar’s engineering program offers a distinctive, hands-on approach where students design, build, and lead from day one. As one of only two ABET-accredited engineering programs at a women’s college in the U.S., students benefit from close faculty mentorship, real-world projects, and opportunities that prepare them for careers and graduate study. If you’re ready to innovate, lead, and make an impact, explore Sweet Briar College at sbc.edu/admissions or contact admissions@sbc.edu to begin your journey.

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