Biography

Catherine Lipe, a former engineer at Hewlett-Packard, has joined Cañada as the new director for the Math, Engineering, Science, Achievement (MESA) Program. Cathy is not unfamiliar with the program, having worked with Judy Liteky, the former MESA director, while working as manager of education grants in HP’s philanthropy department. “I’m planning to build on Judy’s foundation,” she said. “Cañada’s MESA program is very strong because it has such good support from the Science & Technology Division and it has a great location in the Learning Center.” Cathy has worked with similar programs at four-year universities and said the level of faculty support at Cañada exceeds anything she’s ever seen. “Cañada’s faculty know the students so well,” she said. “They are the reason this program is so successful.” Cathy has worked with first-generation, low-income students in engineering/computer science when she managed the HP Scholars program ( www.hp.com/go/hpscholars ). “Managing that program was my favorite job in my career so far and was a big reason behind considering higher ed programs like MESA as a possible career change,” she said. Cathy earned her undergraduate degree in computer engineering from Vanderbilt University and her MBA in marketing and international studies from Penn. She was involved in research and development at HP before moving into marketing and eventually philanthropy. “Working in philanthropy at HP gave me a great vantage point to see what type of efforts and programs made a difference for students,” she said. “Cañada has some very talented students that can benefit from a program like MESA so I feel honored to be in this position.”