Stepping Up To Make Engineering More Accessible

Stacey Coleman Morse, E77

Stacey Coleman Morse, E77

“Nobody knows what engineering is,” Stacey Coleman Morse, E77, said. She understands that firsthand. In high school, when Coleman Morse’s father suggested she study engineering in college, “I didn’t even know what it was,” she recalled. Intrigued, she picked up the landline (it was 1971) and called universities to find out. When she applied to colleges, only Tufts gave Coleman Morse the flexibility to switch from engineering to liberal arts if she so chose. With that promise, and the fresh understanding that engineering “is just problem-solving,” she became a Jumbo.

Today, Coleman Morse knows that “engineering, the label, scares off some people.” So for nearly 30 years, she has supported Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO). Founded in the mid-1990s, CEEO is a national leader in engineering education, research, and teaching—transforming student experiences in kindergarten through college. While strengthening the pipeline of future engineers is one focus, “Our mission has always been much broader than that,” said CEEO Director and Research Associate Professor Merredith Portsmore. “Engineering is a way of thinking, a hands-on approach.”

When Coleman Morse learned about CEEO in the late 1990s, she thought: “This is so cool.” She joined the center’s Advisory Board and serves as its chair; she is also on the Tufts School of Engineering Advisory Board. Her longtime financial support of CEEO includes establishing the Morse Family Fellowship with her husband, Robert Morse.

Over the years, Coleman Morse has coordinated fundraising initiatives and connected CEEO to resources within Tufts. Portsmore describes her as a thought partner deeply informed by many philanthropic commitments. Before 2020, when CEEO board meetings took place in person, Coleman Morse always arrived first, Portsmore said. “She knows all our staff, who their children are, how they’re doing. She’s just a wonderful presence.”

Coleman Morse said she’s simply giving back. “Tufts was like my home,” she said. She felt supported while honing her quantitative skills and thrived beyond academics in ways that expanded her horizons. 

Moreover, Coleman Morse felt comfortable as one of very few women studying engineering, which served her well after graduation, when she became the U.S. Department of Transportation’s only female engineer. She credits Tufts with setting her up for a successful career, including earning an M.B.A. and working at Lehman Brothers—and helping her hone the skills that allowed her to raise four children full time while delving into philanthropic work, with ease.

Her longtime commitment as CEEO’s benefactor and champion isn’t unnoticed. Coleman Morse is “out there figuring out how to sustain an organization,” Portsmore said. “Stacey is irreplaceable.”

The CEEO is moving to Tisch Library in 2026, which will allow it to make an even bigger impact. To learn more about the move and ways to support the center, please contact Leila Rice, senior director of development for the School of Engineering, at leila.rice@tufts.edu.