Laura J. Bottomley is the director of Women in Engineering, Engineering Education, and The Engineering Place at NC State University, where she earned her PhD in Electrical Engineering. She has worked at Texas Instruments and Bell Laboratories and has received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics, Science and Engineering Mentoring. She was named a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and was elected to the YWCA Academy of Women. She is the author of Creating a Better World: Innovation, Ingenuity, and Engineering.