OU’s Richard Olawoyin honored by ABET with two distinguished awards

Richard Olawoyin, professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, has been selected to receive two distinguished awards from ABET, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that accredits college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering and engineering technology.    

Dr. Olawoyin will receive a 2025 ABET Fellow Award and the Claire L. Felbinger Award for Diversity and Inclusion.

The ABET Fellow designation is awarded by ABET’s board of directors, upon recommendation of the awards committee, in recognition of individuals who have given sustained, quality service to engineering, technology, applied and natural science or computing education and to their respective professions through the activities of ABET.

The Claire L. Felbinger Award for Diversity and Inclusion honors individuals whose extraordinary commitment and enduring contributions have advanced diversity, equity and inclusion within ABET and the broader STEM community.

“I’m incredibly honored, and deeply humbled, to be named both an ABET Fellow and a recipient of the Claire L. Felbinger Award for Diversity and Inclusion. Each of these awards carries deep meaning on its own, but receiving them together, in the same year, is something I could never have imagined,” said Olawoyin, who has served ABET in a variety of roles throughout the past decade. “It’s not just a recognition of my technical service or my work on inclusion, it’s a validation of the idea that both are essential to the future of STEM education.”

Dr. Olawoyin’s selection as an ABET Fellow acknowledges years of work in accreditation policy, evaluator training, international team leadership, and developing systems that ensure academic integrity across borders. 

He has been involved as a program evaluator for three of the four ABET Commissions (Applied and Natural Science and Accreditation Commission, Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission and Engineering Accreditation Commission), team chair, commissioner, executive committee member, evaluator candidate training facilitator, training mentor and now a commission officer and chair-elect of the ANSAC Commission. 

As the chair of ABET’s IDEA Council, Dr. Olawoyin has played a key role in integrating diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (IDEA) into ABET's quality assurance processes. Under his leadership, the IDEA Council successfully fulfilled its charge of advising the ABET Boards on IDEA-related matters and promoting IDEA initiatives within ABET, its activities, accredited programs and volunteer base.

Key accomplishments include developing a dynamic framework to guide IDEA-focused initiatives, emphasizing accreditation criteria, processes, and collaborative engagement; establishing standardized procedures, strengthening relationships with professional societies through initiatives such as The ABET IDEA Council & Professional Societies Roundtable, and creating The ABET IDEA Council Speaker Series, which fosters dialogue on IDEA-related topics. 

Dr. Olawoyin’s participation in the U.S. Peace Corps and Fulbright Programs has helped increase global access to STEM education, particularly in underserved regions. He served as a Fulbright Scholar in the Dominican Republic, and more recently, as a STEM professor and mentor in Mexico, where he focused on advancing STEM education among underrepresented communities.

Reflecting on his work with ABET, Dr. Olawoyin said: “One of the principles I live by is this: ‘Legacy isn’t about recognition, it’s about resonance. It’s about how your work echoes in the lives of others long after the spotlight fades.’ That’s what these honors mean to me. They’re not a finish line, they’re fuel to keep going, keep building, and keep making room for every voice in STEM."

Dr. Olawoyin will be honored along with other award recipients at the 2025 ABET Awards Celebration on October 24, in Baltimore, Maryland.