The PELP is a unique professional development program that consists of four seminars over a span of a year that will take place in Washington DC, Chicago, Springfield, and Urbana-Champaign. PELP Fellows will also investigate broadly pressing issues in public higher education, specifically for land-grant institutions.
Some other goals for PELP Fellows include increasing knowledge and awareness of issues that may challenge higher education and the university, enhancing management and decision-making skills, and studying various participatory methods and approaches in university governance and management.
Bernhard received her BSEE from Cornell University in 1988 and her PhD in electrical engineering from Duke University in 1994. She came to the University of Illinois in 1999 as a faculty member and became the Associate Dean for Research of the College of Engineering in 2012. Bernhard also serves as the Interim Director for the Applied Research Institute and is the Donald Willet Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering.