Douglas C. Montgomery,
Professor of Industrial Engineering

Mentoring is a complex process involving intense interaction between the advisor and the graduate student. It begins with the student's arrival at graduate school and may continue years beyond degree completion and graduation. My objective is to develop the student as an independent scholar and researcher, capable of planning and conducting research of their own that will lead to advancing knowledge. I want to prepare them to compete intellectually with the leaders in the field, so that they can go on to successful, productive careers, and assume positions of leadership themselves.

My research is in industrial statistics and encompasses design of experiments, empirical modeling, and process monitoring and control. Some of the work that I do in optimal statistical designs and generalized linear models is basic theoretical research. I also conduct more applied research that has nearly immediate application in industrial settings ranging from pharmaceutical research and development to semiconductor manufacturing. The forty-five doctoral students whom I have advised or co-advised have found positions as faculty members in the United States and abroad in engineering, mathematics, and statistics departments, with national laboratories or industrial research groups, and in a number of key technical positions in industry.

Effective mentoring begins with effective teaching. I firmly believe that the best teachers can also be the best researchers. A professor's first responsibility is to educate students. For many years I have been fortunate to teach an introductory graduate-level course in design of experiments. It is a required course for students in our department, but graduate students from nearly all other engineering departments, the graduate program in statistics, mathematics, and other programs in the physical sciences also take the course. The enrollment is large, often over 100. Many of the students have not been previously exposed to statistical thinking, the strategy of experimentation, and how properly designed and executed experiments can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of scientific research. Because the students have very diverse backgrounds, the course begins at a basic level but moves very quickly. Ultimately we cover all of the fundamental principles of statistical design and analysis of industrial experiments. I wrote the textbook for this course, and it is currently in the 5th edition. The book is widely used at other universities, and I incorporate feedback from many other professors in keeping my course and the book current. I work very hard to ensure that students learn the fundamental principles of design, and that they will also see applications and topics that will be of direct application in their own discipline. Many of the doctoral (and MS thesis or MS Statistics project) students which I have supervised have decided that they wanted to work with me as a direct result of taking this course.

An effective mentor must also be a role model. I have high expectations of myself as a teacher, scholar, and member of my profession. As a teacher, I make considerable efforts to always be prepared for class, to continuously strive to improve my course materials and communication skills, and to develop new graduate courses or update existing ones when advances in the field necessitate this. I have developed five new graduate courses in my fifteen years at ASU, and been privileged to receive several teaching awards, including the CEAS Graduate Teaching Excellence Award. I have invested much energy in scholarly activities, establishing a strong and widely respected research program with both theoretical and applied components. My scholarly work has resulted in thirteen books (over thirty English editions); over 160 refereed archival journal papers, numerous papers and presentations at national and international conferences; election to Fellow status in four professional societies (the American Statistical Association, The American Society for Quality, the Royal Statistical Society, and the Institute of Industrial Engineers); election to membership in the International Statistics Institute; and several national awards for research excellence, including the Shewhart Medal. My professional service includes journal editorships, editorial board memberships, and offices in professional societies. I want my doctoral students, particularly those interested in academic careers, to understand that teaching, scholarship, and professional service are all important activities with which they must become involved and committed. They have been very successful in this regard. Three of my doctoral students are, or have been, department chairs or associate chairs, and one has served as the Commandant of the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School. All of them that are in academic careers have established very successful research programs and several have received prestigious awards, including NSF Presidential Young Investigator Awards and Career Grants. Several of them have received national level awards for outstanding research papers. Four are successful textbook authors, and several of them have won teaching awards. A number of them are associate editors of journals or are editorial review board members. I am very proud of their accomplishments.

The advising role is the most important part of mentoring. I wish that there were a standard recipe for advising doctoral students that applied universally. Unfortunately, there is not, for the simple reason that all students are different. My doctoral students have come from different engineering disciplines, mathematics, operations research, and allied fields. They have been both domestic and international students, full-time traditional students, students from the armed services, and students from industry. Some of the industrial students are sent to ASU by their employer on a full-time basis to acquire specific capabilities, while others pursue graduate study part time. All of these people are exceptionally bright, yet they have different interests, experiences, and goals.

The first part of the process is designing a program of study that will help them accomplish their goals. The only common denominator that I insist on is that they develop a strong theoretical foundation to prepare them for research. While they are taking coursework I involve them in ongoing research projects, usually working with a more senior student, so that they will begin to develop a sense of the level and scope of doctoral research. As they transition from a focus primarily on coursework to a research focus, I meet with them regularly to establish realistic but challenging goals for their own research. My objective here is to encourage their own creativity, and to assist them in beginning the process of their thinking and working as independent scholars. In the actual research and dissertation writing, again I have found that each student must be guided differently. Some are tremendously independent and need only modest direction, while others require much more guidance to get them to the level where they are achieving success on their own. I have often engaged other faculty as co-advisors of doctoral students with me because I felt that was best in accomplishing the student's goals, and to encourage some of our younger faculty to contribute actively to the research rather than simply serving as committee members. We also have visiting scholars in our department, and I frequently encourage my doctoral students to spend some time working with these individuals. Learning which of these different approaches is the best one for a specific student requires that I spend adequate time with them to fully understand their skills and capabilities.

It is also important that the mentor play an active role in introducing the student into the profession. I begin this when the students first start their research. I provide direction on writing journal papers and work with them to co-author research papers as the work progresses. I require that they write the first draft. Then I review and critique their work, both from the science and the presentation viewpoints, and we jointly revise the paper until it is ready for submission. It is my general policy to make the student the first author. Over 100 of my archival refereed journal papers have been co-authored with my graduate students. Some of these papers have won research awards and many have been cited extensively. I also ask my students to referee papers and to learn about all aspects of the publication process early in their graduate study. It is critical that they master this skill, even if they do not plan an academic career. I also encourage my students to attend conferences and present their research results. This gives them an opportunity to meet other students and researchers, to exchange ideas, and to get external feedback on their own work. I work with them on their presentations and try to prepare them for the questions that they will likely encounter. There are two or three major annual meetings in our field, and the most prestigious sessions feature invited presentations. I have generally been successful in securing invitations for my students to give presentations at these meetings. The students return from these meetings with many new ideas and rekindled energy. Meeting other prominent workers in the field is an important aspect of entering the profession, and it can also assist them with placement once their graduate study is complete.

Mentoring graduate students is a privilege. It is also a significant responsibility, both to the student and to the profession. My approach has evolved over approximately thirty years, yet I feel that I am still learning how to do it. Developing the individual capabilities of each student so that they achieve their maximum potential and become a leader of the field has been the foundation of my approach. I have learned a lot about this process from my graduate students, many of whom have remained my colleagues and friends.