Abigail Wooldridge
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Assistant Professor
Qualified for Certified Human Factors Professional (CHFP) Exam, June 2025
Doctorate of Philosophy in Industrial Engineering
University of Wisconsin – Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Awarded 2018
Focus: Human Factors and Ergonomics
Minor: Mixed Methods in Field Research
Master of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering
University of Wisconsin – Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Awarded 2013
Focus: Human Factors and Ergonomics
Master of Engineering in Industrial Engineering
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Awarded 2012
Focus: Operations Research and Applied Statistics
Summa Cum Laude
Engineer in Training (Passed the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam), April 2011
Bachelor of Science, Industrial Engineering
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Awarded 2011
Summa Cum Laude
I am excited to run for Member-at-Large on the Executive Council (EC). I have been interested in this role since 2019, when I began learning about the EC as a member of an EC committee that I later chaired. I have continued to grow since, gaining experience within HFES and other groups. I am excited to continue serving HFES because it has been my professional home for more than a decade, and I want to ensure its ongoing health in this position.
I am an Assistant Professor of Industrial & Enterprise Systems Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. My research focuses on designing sociotechnical systems to improve outcomes in health care and health-related settings. I have appointments in several other units and am a Research Affiliate at Mayo Clinic and Faculty Fellow at OSF HealthCare. I have also worked as a practitioner in consulting and at a hospital. My experiences will help me serve both academic and practitioner members.
I have been a member of HFES since 2012, serving in several capacities (below). I am also the faculty advisor of our HFES student chapter since 2019.
Health Care Technical Group:
- Chair (2023-present), Chair-elect (2021-2023), Secretary/Treasurer (2019-2021)
- Highlights: Increased awards, including early career and travel support for transitional members and practitioners. Supported the Council of Affinity Groups financially. Began webinar series with the Human Factors Transforming Healthcare Network.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
- Chair (2021-2023; March 2025-present), Member (2017-present)
- Highlights: renamed the committee from Diversity Committee. Started seed grant program targeting racism and bias through HF/E. Re-organized committee for longevity.
I am Secretary of the Society of Surgical Ergonomics, serving on Executive Council and Board of Directors, and serve on an IEA award committee. I am also serving on a campus-level taskforce appointed by our Chancellor responding to federal updates. These roles have provided understanding of how volunteer-run organizations function and insight into navigating a shifting climate.
As a prospective EC member-at-large, I am committed to ensuring transparency and enhancing communication with our members – we need to gather feedback, incorporate it in decision making and communicate clearly. I believe there are many opportunities to improve, drawing on the principles of our field.
I would also like to promote our field and discipline broadly: with increasing attention paid to Artificial Intelligence (AI) across all domains, our expertise is incredibly relevant – we need to participate and lead proactively, not be a reactive afterthought for funders, policy makers and industry. I would like to leverage our relevance to AI to also enhance awareness of and interest in our discipline in younger student populations to grow our profession.
I hope you allow me to serve you on EC as a Member-at-Large. Thank you for your consideration.