The Circuit News from the halls of academic engineering, science, and technology September 2020

Headlines COVID-19 creates the ultimate ‘teachable moment’ News fromAs the a new halls academic of academic year begins, engineering, one thing science, is clear: andStudents technology aren’t the only ones getting an education. Across the country, STEM program administrators and faculty members are learning plenty of lessons — all part of the ongoing struggle to deliver the best instruction possible amid a global pandemic. “Traditional classroom settings are replaced bySeptember a broad mix 2020of real-time remote learning, recorded classes, and limited in-person instruction and interaction,” Engineering News-Record/ENR reports. “Some professors seek ways to make classes feel as normal as possible, while others disassemble their established teaching methods and rebuild curricula.” Like many institutions, Kansas State University is offering an assortment of online and “hybrid” classes this fall. However, it’s added a twist to the latter: “Zoom-blended” classes, in which, on any given day, half the students attend in person while the other half tune in via Zoom. The next time the class meets, the two groups switch, and so on. Virginia Tech, meanwhile, has created “pods” — tables equipped with clear plastic dividers that allow students to interact face to face. At Cal Poly Pomona, where instruction is almost exclusively online, Ghada Gad, PhD, an associate professor of engineering, now ends every class with a 30-minute question-and-answer period. Professors at Auburn University realized that some students would be undertaking capstone projects requiring a level of computing not offered by the typical laptop. The school’s answer: “We actually boxed up a bunch of desktop computers and put them in the mail to students, so we could move a lab from the university to their homes,” C. Ben Farrow, associate dean for academic affairs, told ENR. What do students think of the “new normal”? A Rutgers University survey of returning engineering students considered last spring’s online instruction effective. Sixty-two percent, however, said Purdue University they prefer live learning. Katie Loughmiller, MS, an assistant professor in Kansas Purdue University’s lecture State’s GE Johnson Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction halls have been modified Science, sees a bright side. “In some ways, this is the best thing that could have to ensure compliance with happened,” she told ENR. “This is forcing every one of us to reevaluate what is social-distancing protocols. important, what content is not necessary, and where we put our energy and effort. This will end with all of these programs being even better.” READ MORE

University of Texas at San Antonio The University of Texas at San Antonio’s $95 million, 160,000-square foot Science and Engineering Building opened last month. New facilities will spark interdisciplinary collaboration, schools say A handful of U.S. STEM programs are starting the academic year with new facilities. The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) opened its state-of-the-art Science and Engineering Building on August 22. The $95 million, 160,000-square-foot structure contains classrooms, research laboratories, and expansive collaboration areas for UTSA programs in brain health, chemical engineering, computer and electrical engineering, biology, and chemistry. One of the building’s highlights is the Makerspace, which features a design studio, a machine shop, and a 3D-printing room, as well as project assembly space. “The Makerspace will host projects that bring engineers, urban planners, social scientists, artists, musicians, athletes, business people, computer scientists, architects, mathematicians — and many more — together to find unique solutions to problems that cross societal concerns,” said JoAnn Browning, PhD, dean of UTSA’s College of Engineering. The University of Texas System is also celebrating the opening of a new facility on its Dallas campus. The 186,000-square-foot Sciences Building houses the Department of Physics and the William B. Hanson Center for Space Sciences. At the University of Nevada in Reno, a robot took part in a ribbon-cutting for the William N. Pennington Engineering Building, a four-story, 100,000-square-foot structure that boasts dedicated space for each of the College of Engineering’s five departments. “The College of Engineering is committed to providing students a globally competitive engineering education, conducting innovative, cutting-edge research and engaging with the community,” Dean Manos Maragakis, PhD, said at the August 25 ceremony. “This building propels these goals forward and contributes to the vitality of our region, our nation, and our world.” The University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, meanwhile, dedicated its new engineering building — the result of an $11 million overhaul of a former dining hall. The 20,000- square-foot facility will permit students in the university’s School of Engineering to attend classes and labs in a single location, Chair Terry Pilling, PhD, said at a September 1 ribbon-cutting. “This,” he said, “enables the student to study the theory behind an engineering concept, such as an electric circuit, and then immediately test the theoretical results with a computer simulation — and then immediately follow this by actually constructing the circuit and testing the results in a direct laboratory experiment.” READ MORE

The new Sciences Building at UT Dallas A robot joins University of Nevada Dignitaries dedicate the University of features lounges designed to promote officials at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Mary’s 20,000-square-foot engineering informal interaction between students for the school’s $91 million William N. building, which consolidates classroom and the school’s faculty members. Pennington Engineering Building. instruction and lab-based learning. Kansas School of Engineering seeks input from its most recent grads The University of Kansas School of Engineering has formed a new advisory board of recent graduates to advise the school’s faculty and staff as they prepare students to enter the engineering field. The group, formally known as the Recent Graduate Advisory Board, is composed of about 35 alumni, most of whom have been out of school for less than 10 years. “KU Engineering has an amazing network of distinguished alumni,” said Dean Arvin Agah, PhD. “Strengthening connections with our more recent graduates by establishing this board will benefit our current students and broader alumni network. I look forward to working with our recent graduate advisory board to elevate the stature of KU Engineering on the national level.” The newly established panel, which features alumni representing all engineering departments, as well as several industries and government agencies, will help ensure that the school stays abreast of developments in the field, Agah said. READ MORE

International collaboration flourishes in spite of the global pandemic International collaboration has never been more important to academic technology programs — a reality underscored by a flurry of new partnerships. On August 25, Washington University in St. Louis formalized an agreement with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), a research university in Bengaluru, India. “We have long been aware of IISc’s stellar research reputation, and we are delighted to be working together,” Washington University Chancellor Andrew D. Martin, PhD, said during a Zoom-aided signing ceremony. “Deepening the relationship, and bringing more students into the mix, is exactly the right type of model for cross-institution collaboration.” Even prior to Washington University in St. Louis and the Indian Institute the formal agreement — which calls for of Science (IISc) have signed an agreement that formalizes — research workshops and visits, plus joint and builds upon — research-based relationships that course development and mentoring of PhD developed “organically” through longstanding ties between students in India and the United States — the Washington’s McKelvey School of Engineering and IISc. two universities had a burgeoning relationship, thanks largely to Washington’s McKelvey School of Engineering. Many of the school’s faculty members have personal ties to IISc, either as alumni or research partners, and those relationships developed organically into research initiatives in neuromorphic engineering, environmental science, aerosols research, and machine learning. “We’ve found that there are already many collaborations that are in a nascent form, some even further along, and one of our goals is to dramatically increase the bandwidth of those collaborations,” said Aaron Bobick, PhD, McKelvey’s dean. Earlier in the month, Purdue University’s colleges of Engineering and Science and Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology signed agreements that will enable Egyptian students to earn a BS in electrical engineering, a BS in computer engineering, or a professional master’s degree in information security from Purdue. Students in the new programs will attend the Egypt University of Informatics (EUI), which the ministry is working to establish, and then transfer to Purdue. EUI will be the first university in the Middle East to specialize in information and communications technology. Faculty from EUI and Purdue will be encouraged to co-teach blended remote courses, which Purdue Online will support. “This is an exceptional project of exceptional promise,” Purdue President Mitch Daniels, JD, said at a virtual signing ceremony, attended by more than two dozen Egyptian and U.S. dignitaries, including the chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. “This endeavor fits our mission and has potential for genuine impact.” READ MORE

One college, five schools, six strategic priorities, 25 new faculty positions MIT Schwarzman College of Computing Here are the six strategic areas targeted by MIT’s Stephen A. Schwarzman College MIT plans to create 25 faculty positions of Computing — and the schools that are expected to be involved in the hiring of to nurture key computing partnerships shared faculty within each area: Doubling down on the notion that computing technology has influenced virtually every aspect of the modern world, MIT’s Social, Economic, and Ethical Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing is planning to Implications of Computing and create 25 new faculty positions, each of which will be shared by Networks the college and another MIT department or school. The new Associated schools: School of Humanities, positions will fall into six strategic areas of inquiry (see adjacent Arts and the Social Sciences and MIT Sloan chart). The shared faculty hired in those areas will be expected School of Management to engage in research and teaching that contributes to their Computing and Natural home departments, provides mutual value to that department Intelligence: Cognition, and the college, and helps nurture cross-departmental ties. e “These new shared faculty positions present an unprecedented Perception, and Languag opportunity to develop crucial areas at MIT which connect Associated schools: School of Science; computing with other disciplines,” said Dan Huttenlocher, PhD, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Schwarzman’s dean. “By coordinated hiring between the college Sciences; and School of Architecture and and departments and schools, we expect to have significant Planning impact with multiple touchpoints across MIT.” The plan grew out Computing in Health and Life of an interdisciplinary planning exercise led by Huttenlocher, Sciences Provost Martin Schmidt, PhD, and the deans of the university’s Associated schools: School of Engineering; five schools: Anantha Chandrakasan, PhD, dean of the School School of Science; and MIT Sloan School of of Engineering; Melissa Nobles, PhD, Kenan Sahin Dean of the Management School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; Hashim Sarkis, PhD, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning; David Computing for Health of the Planet Schmittlein, PhD, John C. Head III Dean of MIT Sloan; and Associated schools: School of Engineering; Michael Sipser, PhD, outgoing dean of the School of Science. School of Science; and School of The exercise began with the solicitation of proposals from MIT’s Architecture and Planning academic department heads; 29 proposals were submitted. Computing and Human After a six-week review of those proposals, the senior leadership group settled on the six strategic areas. “These areas not only Experience bring together computing with numerous departments and Associated schools: School of Humanities, schools but also involve multiple modes of academic inquiry, Arts, and Social Sciences and School of offering opportunities for new collaborations in research and Architecture and Planning teaching across a broad range of fields,” Schmidt said. “I’m Quantum Computing excited to see us launch this critical part of the college’s Associated schools: School of Engineering mission.” While the number of searches and involved schools and School of Science will vary annually, the plan for the coming academic year is to have five searches, one with each school. READ MORE Universities expand their engineering and technology offerings It’s time to update those directories. Several engineering programs have adopted new names, and one institution — South Carolina’s College of Charleston (CofC) — is offering an engineering major for the first time in its 250-year history. This fall, 30 CofC students will begin their pursuit of a BS in systems engineering — the first major of its kind in the state. “Over the last 10 years, Charleston’s tri-county area has evolved into a high-tech manufacturing center,” said Sebastian van Delden, PhD, interim dean of the School of Sciences and Mathematics, which houses the systems engineering major. “As the local public university, we have the responsibility of providing talent to our economy.” Engineers from Boeing, Bosch, and Mercedes-Benz helped design the curriculum, and an industrial advisory board is in

place to help ensure that it remains relevant to industry needs. At New York’s Binghamton University, the engineering program isn’t new — but its name is. On August 17, the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science became the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science. Dean Krishnaswami “Hari” Srihari, PhD, said Watson’s transition from school to college clears the way for its five departments — biomedical engineering, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering, and systems science and industrial engineering — to become schools in the future. “Transforming fast-growing departments into schools can further help both faculty and student recruiting — and make them stand out among their peers,” said Weiyi Meng, PhD, chair of the Department of Computer Science. That’s also the thinking behind Murray State University’s decision to turn its Institute of Engineering — part of the Jesse D. Jones College of Science, Engineering, and Technology — into the School of Engineering. “While Murray State has been involved in engineering and engineering technology for over 50 years, it is an opportunity to be recognized as a strong and influential engineering entity,” said Danny Claiborne, PhD, chair of the newly branded school. “Becoming a School of Engineering establishes a prestigious and influential organizational structure.” Meanwhile, at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, two programs that have been calling cards for more than a decade — Robotics Engineering and Aerospace Engineering — are now officially departments. “Both are examples of what WPI does best — support a core group of dedicated faculty who respond to the needs of their industry and research communities,” said John McNeill, PhD, dean of WPI’s School of Engineering. “This bottoms-up, demand-driven approach provides our students with experiences that lead to rewarding careers in these high-growth areas.” READ MORE

Nebraska research center lands another $92 million defense contract The University of Nebraska’s National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) has received a five-year, $92 million contract that will enable it to continue its pursuit of scientific breakthroughs that could reduce the United States’ vulnerability to weapons of mass destruction and other threats. The contract, awarded by the U.S. Strategic Command, is the third that the NSRI has received since its creation in 2012. The first contract, worth $84 million, was renewed in 2018. The second contract called for NSRI to receive up to $92 million over five years. Nebraska researchers, however, hit that ceiling in just 18 months, raising the possibility that the NSRI’s work might be interrupted. The latest contract essentially resets the clock. Ted Carter, president of the University of Nebraska, Ted Carter hailed the new contract as “a monumental achievement” for the university, for NSRI, and for the state of Nebraska. “Especially during these challenging times, I’m so inspired by our faculty, staff, students, and NSRI colleagues who have consistently stepped up to keep our warfighters and our country safe,” said Carter, a retired vice admiral who, before assuming his current post, served as superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, his alma mater. NSRI is one of 14 University-Affiliated Research Centers, or UARCs, that receive funding from the military to conduct research in a wide range of STEM disciplines, including cognitive neuroscience, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology. READ MORE INNOVATORS podcast

“Protecting the nation from once-unimaginable threats” Robert C. Hinson Founding executive director of the National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska

Recent INNOVATORS podcasts “Designing good health: Biomedical engineering comes of age,” featuring Ajit Yoganathan, PhD, the Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished Faculty Chair in Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology LISTEN “Weighing the strengths and weaknesses of America’s public health system in the time of COVID-19,” featuring Donna Petersen, ScD, dean of the College of Public Health at the University of South Florida LISTEN “STEM learning: The foundation of a 21st century workforce,” featuring Mónica Fernandez Bugallo , PhD, professor of electrical and computer engineering and associate dean for diversity and outreach in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University LISTEN “Building elegant technological solutions to complex scientific problems,” featuring Lesa B. Roe, MS, chancellor of the University of North Texas System LISTEN

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Harris Search Associates recruits Annie Nereng, JD, as associate director for contracts and grants at the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) Michigan State University chooses Harris Search Associates to oversee the search for the director of its Hospitality Business program Harris Search Associates recruits Adam Lloyd, DDS, as professor of endodontics at the Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry

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Kumud Acharya, PhD, has been named president of the Desert Research Institute (DRI), a two- campus (Reno and Las Vegas) environmental-science institution administered by the Nevada System of Higher Education. Since joining DRI in 2006, the ecological engineer has held various research and leadership positions, including assistant research professor, interim vice president for research, and executive director for the Division of Hydrologic Sciences.

Carmen Aguilar, MS, has been named the dean of the School of Continuing Education at Rhode Island’s Providence College. Most recently, Aguilar spent 14 years as dean of the Center for Workforce and Community Education at Bristol Community College in Fall River, Massachusetts. Previously, she was global instructional technology manager for OneMBA, a collaboration involving graduate schools in the United States, Latin America, Asia, and Europe.

Victoria Baramidze, PhD, has been named chair of the Department of Mathematics and Philosophy at Western Illinois University (WIU) in Macomb. Baramidze joined WIU's faculty in 2005 as an assistant professor of mathematics, specializing in numerical analysis. Since Baramidze’s appointment as interim chair in 2018, the department has won approval for two new options in the mathematics major: data science and statistics and actuarial science.

Anne Baranger, PhD, teaching professor in the College of Chemistry at the University of California- Berkeley, has been named the college’s inaugural associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Before joining UC-Berkeley in 2011, Baranger taught at Wesleyan University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was associate head of the Department of Chemistry. Her grandfather Harold C. Urey received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1934.

Jeffrey Bardzell, PhD, has been appointed associate dean for undergraduate and graduate studies at Penn State University’s College of Information Sciences and Technology. Bardzell was most recently at Indiana University-Bloomington, where he served as a professor of informatics and as director of the Human Computer Interaction Design program in the university’s Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering.

Shaowen Bardzell, PhD, a professor of informatics and director of the interdisciplinary Center for Critical and Humanistic Computing at Indiana University-Bloomington, has joined Penn State University as a professor of information sciences and technology. At Indiana, Bardzell helped build the Human Computer Interaction Design program. She also was affiliated with the Kinsey Institute, as well as the departments of Gender Studies and Comparative Literature.

Nina Lyon Bennett, PhD, has been named assistant dean for academics for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff School of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Human Sciences. In the role, she will support department chairs in managing curriculum development and assessment, student enrollment, and persistence to graduation. Bennett was most recently an adjunct professor at Morgan State University and a visiting professor at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Ronald Berry, DBA, has been appointed the ninth president of the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM). He starts next month. Berry, a two-time graduate of ULM, has been a member of the school’s faculty for 25 years. He has held a variety of teaching positions, including assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor of information systems. Berry began his administrative career as head of the Department of Computer Information Systems. Allison Morgan Bryant, PhD, an associate professor of information systems and supply chain management at Howard University’s School of Business, has been named the school’s assistant dean of innovation and administration. Bryant, who is widely known for her research on the sociocultural impact of technology, formerly worked as a technology consultant at Accenture and as a usability engineer at the Census Bureau.

Patrick Bunton, PhD, has been named head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of North Georgia. Bunton was previously chair of the Physics Department at William Jewell College in Missouri and associate professor at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee. He also was a faculty fellow at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Bunton succeeds Richard Prior, PhD, who is now a professor emeritus at North Georgia.

Vince Calhoun, PhD, has been named director of the Center for Advanced Brain Imaging (CABI), a joint venture between Georgia State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Calhoun, a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Neuroscience and Neuroinfomatics, also holds appointments in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech and in neurology and psychiatry at the Emory University School of Medicine.

Alina Campan, PhD, a professor of computer science at Northern Kentucky University (NKU) in Highland Heights, has been named the inaugural STRAWS Professor of Computer Science. The endowed faculty position is the first awarded to a woman in NKU’s College of Informatics. Before joining NKU's faculty in 2007, Campan taught at Romania’s Babes-Bolyai University. Her research on data mining and data privacy earned a Yahoo Research Best Paper award in 2008.

Michael Chajes, PhD, a former dean of the University of Delaware (UD) College of Engineering, has been named inaugural dean of the university’s Honors College. He was previously director of UD’s Honors Program. Chajes, who joined the university’s faulty in 1990, also served as chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Chajes, a registered professional engineer in Delaware, was named that state’s Engineer of the Year in 2010.

Michael Corl, PhD, has been named assistant dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. Corl, who assumed his new duties in

August, was most recently at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. At the academy, he served as chair of naval architecture and marine engineering, assistant dean of academics, and professor and chair of the Leadership and Diversity Advisory Council.

Kati R. Csoman, MA, has been named associate director of global program innovation in the Office of Global Engineering Engagement in the Penn State College of Engineering. In the new role, Csoman will work with engineering faculty to advance global engagement, lead innovation in faculty-led courses abroad, and promote engineering students’ global competencies. She was most recently dean of international education at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.

Patricia “Trish” Culligan, PhD, is settling into her new role as the Matthew H. McCloskey Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. Culligan, a civil engineer widely known for her expertise in water resource management, began her tenure at Notre Dame on August 1. She previously was chair and professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics at Columbia University, where she also served as founding associate director of the Data Science Institute. David Dampier, PhD, associate dean for research and professor of computer science at Marshall University, has been named interim dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences, replacing Wael Zatar, PhD, who returned to teaching. Before joining Marshall last year, Dampier chaired the Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security at the University of Texas at San Antonio and ran the Distributed Analytics and Security Institute at Mississippi State University.

Adji Bousso Dieng, PhD, an expert in artificial intelligence and machine learning, will join Princeton Unviersity’s School of Engineering and Applied Science as a tenure-track assistant professor next September, becoming the school’s first black female faculty member. She will also be the Department of Computer Science’s first black faculty member, male or female. Dieng, a native of Senegal, is currently a researcher at Google. She previously worked at the World Bank.

Ebony Dixon, MS, director of recruitment and retention at Southern Methodist University’s Lyle School of Engineering, has been named SUNY Oswego’s first executive director of enrollment management. As Oswego’s chief enrollment officer and a member of the President’s Council, Dixon will oversee the school’s admissions operations. Before joining Southern Methodist in 2018, she spent 10 years in various administrative roles at Wayne State University.

Andy Dong, PhD, has begun his tenure as head of the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering at Oregon State University in Corvallis. Dong, who joined the school’s faculty in January as a professor, succeeds Harriett Nembhard, PhD, now dean of the University of Iowa College of Engineering. Dong formerly chaired the Design Strategy MBA program at California College of the Arts in Oakland and taught at the University of Sydney in Australia.

John English, PhD, dean of the University of Arkansas’ College of Engineering, has been appointed the university’s vice chancellor for research and innovation, effective November 1. English, who also holds the Irma F. and Raymond F. Giffels Endowed Chair in Engineering, will serve a 12-month term. Before joining Arkansas’ faculty in 2013, he served as dean of the Kansas State College of Engineering. University officials intend to name an interim engineering dean.

Katrina Falkner, PhD, has been appointed executive dean of the University of Adelaide’s Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences. Falkner, who has been serving on an interim basis since last October, will be the first woman to occupy the position. Falkner, head of the university’s School of Computer Science from 2014 to 2018, also leads the school’s Computer Science Education Research Group and the Modeling and Analysis Program.

Gina M. Florio, PhD, an associate professor of chemistry and physics at St. John’s University in Queens, New York, has been named interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Since joining St. John’s in 2005, Florio has served in a variety of teaching and administrative capacities. She was formerly an associate professor in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and, more recently, she served on the university’s Return to Campus Task Force.

Aisha Francis, PhD, has been named chief executive officer of Boston’s Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, a private college focused on engineering and industrial technologies. In her new role, Francis will oversee the college’s day-to-day operations, manage the senior leadership team, and help advance the institution’s mission. Francis succeeds President Anthony Benoit, who will serve in an advisory role through next June. Mary Galvin, ScD, the William K. Warren Foundation Dean of the University of Notre Dame’s College of Science since 2015, will step down December 31. Galvin, a professor in Notre Dame’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, previously directed the National Science Foundation’s Division of Materials Research. An interim dean will be named to lead the college during the spring semester while an international search is conducted to identify Galvin’s successor.

Anjelica Gonzalez, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Yale University, has been named faculty director of Yale’s Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking, which aims to inspire students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to pursue innovative solutions to real-world problems. Gonzalez, who started September 1, succeeds the center’s inaugural faculty director, Peter Schulam, MD, PhD, formerly chair and professor of urology at the Yale School of Medicine.

Geoffrey Grimmett, ScD, DPhil, a professor of mathematical statistics at the University of Cambridge for nearly 30 years, has been named chair of the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research, an affiliate of the University of Bristol. At Cambridge, Grimmett was head of the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics and Master of Downing College. He is widely known for his work in probability theory and statistical mechanics.

Bridget Guerrero, MBA, has been named director of the Colorado Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Program at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. Guerrero was previously director of business development for Code Ninjas, which, via hundreds of franchised learning centers across the United States, teaches children to write computer code. She is also founder and CEO of One World Quest, a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding students’ global perspective.

Khaled Harras, PhD, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, has been named area head in computer science. He previously served as director of the institution’s computer science and computational biology programs. Harras, who holds two graduate degrees from the University of California-Santa Barbara, is also founder and director of the Networking Systems Lab. His work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals more than 120 times.

Kenneth B. Kahn, PhD, has been named dean of Cleveland State University’s Monte Ahuja College of Business. Kahn, who started August 10, was previously at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he served as senior associate dean of the School of Business and, before that, as director of the da Vinci Center, which encourages interdisciplinary innovation. Kahn, who holds two industrial engineering degrees, worked as an engineer before entering the academy in 1994.

Andrew Ketsdever, PhD, has been named dean of academic affairs at Oregon State University- Cascades in Bend. Ketsdever joined the school’s faculty in 2018 as associate academic dean, overseeing degree programs in science, technology, and engineering. He previously directed the Center for Laser, Energy, and Exploration Research at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, where he also chaired the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

John Koprowski, PhD, a professor of wildlife conservation and management and director of the University of Arizona’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment, has been appointed dean of the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Koprowski, a biologist, will assume his new role September 30. Before joining Arizona’s faculty in 2000, he taught at Willamette University and at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Audrey Lamb, PhD, has been appointed chair of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Lamb, who assumed her new responsibilities in August, previously spent 17 years at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, where she was a professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences and interim dean of graduate studies. Before that, she was a postdoctoral

fellow at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Tracy Langkilde, PhD, head of the Department of Biology at Penn State University since 2016, has been named the Verne M. Willaman Dean of the university’s Eberly College of Science, effective October 1. Langkilde joined Penn State’s faculty as an assistant professor in the Department of Biology in 2007. She succeeds Douglas R. Cavener, PhD, who is returning to full-time research and teaching in the Department of Biology.

Sarah Lee, PhD, has been named director of the School of Computing Sciences and Computer Engineering at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. Before assuming her new duties on August 12, Lee was assistant department head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Mississippi State University in Starkville. Prior to joining academia, she spent 19 years at FedEx, managing large software development projects.

Ruth Lehmann, PhD, has joined MIT as a full professor in the Department of Biology and as director of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. Lehmann, a developmental and cell biologist, was most recently affiliated with New York University, where she was director of the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Professor of Cell Biology, and chair of the Department of Cell Biology. She taught at MIT from 1988 to 1996.

Pete E.C. Markowitz, PhD, has been named assistant dean of the Honors College at Florida International University (FIU). Markowitz, who joined FIU in 1995 as a professor in the Department of Physics, has been affiliated with the Honors College since 2001. An expert on quarks and dark energy, Markowitz is an active researcher at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia and at the European Center for Nuclear and Particle Physics in Geneva, Switzerland.

Nergis Mavalvala, PhD, the Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics at MIT, has been named dean of the university’s School of Science. She is the first woman to occupy the position. Mavalvala, who was appointed to the post last month, is an authority on the detection of gravitational waves and quantum measurement science and a 2010 recipient of the MacArthur “genius” award. She joined MIT’s physics faculty in 2002.

Michael McRobbie, PhD, president of Indiana University since 2007, will retire in June. McRobbie joined IU in 1997 as the university’s first vice president for information technology and chief information officer. He became vice president for research in 2003 and interim provost and vice president for academic affairs three years later. McRobbie holds faculty appointments in computer science, philosophy, cognitive science, informatics, and computer technology.

Armin Mikler, PhD, an expert in computational epidemiology, has been named chair of the Department of Computer Science at Georgia State University, effective September 1. Mikler was most recently at the University of North Texas, where he served as associate chair in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. He is founding director of the Center for Computational Epidemiology and Response Analysis, which will relocate to Georgia State. Thomas L. Monahan III, MBA, has been appointed president and chief executive officer of DeVry University, a for-profit institution offering what it describes as "career-oriented education integrating technology, business, science, and the arts.” Monahan most recently served as chairman of ProKarma Inc., a digital technology company. From 2005 to 2017, he was CEO of CEB Inc., a technology company specializing in IT and other business services.

Yi Pan, PhD, chair of the Department of Computer Science at Georgia State University since 2006, has left the post to focus on full-time teaching and research as a Regents’ Professor. During Pan’s tenure, the department’s undergraduate enrollment increased five-fold and its graduate program more than doubled. Pan, who joined Georgia State’s faculty in 2000, was promoted to full professor

in 2004 and Distinguished University Professor in 2013.

Nick T. Place, PhD, has been named dean of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and director of the UGA Cooperative Extension and Agricultural Experiment Stations. Place is currently dean and director of the Florida Cooperative Extension Service and a member of the administrative team for the IFAS (Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences) at the University of Florida. He will assume his new responsibilities on January 1.

Ketul Popat, PhD, a professor of mechanical engineering at Colorado State University’s Walter Scott Jr. College of Engineering, has been named associate director of the college’s School of Biomedical Engineering and director of the school’s undergraduate program. Popat, who also runs

the Biomaterials Surface Micro/Nano-Engineering Laboratory, served on an interim basis last year, while Kevin Lear, PhD, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, was on sabbatical.

Jake Qualls, PhD, assistant professor of bioinformatics at Arkansas State University (ASU), has been named interim chair of the Department of Computer Science. He assumed the role August 16. Qualls worked as a grid-systems engineer at Acxiom in Conway, Arkansas, before joining ASU’s faculty. Qualls is also associate director of the Center for No-Boundary Thinking (CNBT) and division lead for the CNBT Division of Advanced Data Science and Learning.

Col Raimond, JD, has been named the first-ever staff ombudsperson for the Faculty of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering at the University of Rochester. Raimond was most recently LGBTQ coordinator at the university’s Paul J. Burgett Intercultural Center. In the newly established ombudsperson role, Raimond will serve as a neutral resource, providing confidential and informal assistance to members of the campus community.

Eddy Rawlinson, MA, has been named dean of the San Juan College School of Business and Information Technology in Farmington, New Mexico. He previously served as executive dean of the Math, Science, Allied Health, and STEM Division at Dallas College-Cedar Valley and as executive dean of the Arts and Sciences Division at El Centro College in Dallas. Before entering academia, Rawlinson was a senior planning engineer in the aerospace industry.

Kenneth J. Reid, PhD, associate professor of engineering education and assistant department head for undergraduate programs at Virginia Tech, has been named associate dean and director of the R.B. Annis School of Engineering at the University of Indianapolis, effective August 10. Reid previously taught at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis and at Ohio Northern University, where he held the Herbert F. Alter Chair of Engineering. Irina Rish, PhD, an associate professor in the Université de Montréal’s Computer Science and Operations Research Department, has been awarded the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Autonomous Artificial Intelligence. Rish, who earned her doctorate at the University of California and formerly worked for IBM in New York, is seeking to build a cross-disciplinary research center that can bridge the gaps among AI, biology, neuroscience, and psychology.

Christopher Rose, PhD, a professor of engineering at Brown University, has been appointed the university’s associate provost for STEM initiatives. In his new role, Rose will help grow the share of faculty who have been historically underrepresented in STEM fields and look for ways to highlight and support their work. Rose, who joined Brown’s faculty in 2014, was previously associate dean of the faculty for special initiatives. He formerly taught at Rutgers University.

Louis Rossi, PhD, has been named dean of the Graduate College and vice provost for graduate and professional education at the University of Delaware (UD). He succeeds Interim Vice Provost and Dean Doug Doren, who retired after 32 years at UD. Rossi joined UD’s Department of Mathematical Sciences in 2001 and became its chair in 2015. Since 2012, he also has held a joint appointment as professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences.

Arturo E. Schultz, PhD, has been named chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Robert F. McDermott Distinguished Chair in Engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Schultz was previously a professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering in the University of Minnesota’s College of Science and Engineering, where he also directed the MAST (Multi-Axial Subassemblage Testing) Laboratory.

John D. Simon, PhD, president of Lehigh University, has announced plans to step down at the end of the academic year. He intends to return to the school’s faculty in July 2022, following a yearlong sabbatical. Before becoming Lehigh’s president in 2015. Simon was executive vice president and provost at the University of Virginia. Before that, he was at Duke University, where he served as vice provost of academic affairs and as chair of the Department of Chemistry.

Fotis Sotiropoulos, PhD, dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and SUNY Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering at Stony Brook University, has been named interim provost. He will serve until a permanent provost is chosen. Before joining Stony Brook’s faculty, Sotiropoulos was the James L. Record Professor of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering and director of the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Hung-Chi Su, PhD, chair of the Department of Computer Science at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, has stepped down from his administrative role and returned to full-time teaching. Since joining Arkansas State’s faculty in 2003, Su has held several leadership positions in the department, including interim chair, associate chair, and, ultimately, chair. During this time, the department has been continuously growing in both undergraduate and graduate programs.

Daniel Sui, PhD, the University of Arkansas’ vice chancellor for research and innovation since October 2018, will step down November 1 to become Virginia Tech’s vice president for research and innovation. Arkansas’ research expenditures grew throughout Sui’s tenure, reaching a new high of $180.2 million in 2019. Sui, an authority on GIS-based spatial analysis and modeling, will retain a faculty appointment and teach an Honors College course in the spring. Stu Tobet, PhD, a professor of biomedical sciences at Colorado State University, has been reappointed director of the School of Biomedical Engineering, part of the Walter Scott Jr. College of Engineering, for a five-year term. Tobet, a faculty member in the College of Veterinary Sciences’ Department of Biomedical Sciences since 2003, will work with 70 faculty members from four colleges: Engineering, Veterinary Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Health and Human Sciences.

Joel Trexler, PhD, has been named director of Florida State University’s Coastal and Marine Laboratory, a research lab and base camp for field studies. Trexler, who will oversee laboratory research, faculty development, and facility growth, was most recently at Florida International University, where he was a professor of biological science and director of the university’s Marine Science Program. Trexler succeeds Felicia Coleman, PhD, the lab’s director for 14 years.

Mario Velardi, PhD, has joined the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos (UNM-LA) to coordinate the launch of a BS in mechanical engineering program. UNM-LA, which formerly offered only a two-year pre-engineering program, developed the degree in partnership with the University of New Mexico School of Engineering in Albuquerque. Velardi, a mechanical engineer, has worked for several international firms, including, most recently, Direxa Engineering in Denver.

Suzanne L. Weekes, PhD, interim associate dean of undergraduate studies and professor of mathematical sciences at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, has been named executive director of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), effective January 1. Weekes, co-founder and co-director of the national Preparation for Industrial Careers in Mathematical Sciences Program, succeeds Jim Crowley, PhD, who recently retired after 25 years with SIAM.

Donald J. Welch, PhD, Penn State University’s interim vice president for information technology and chief information officer since July 2019, has been named to the post on a permanent basis, effective October 1. Welch joined Penn State in 2016 as chief information security officer, leading the Office of Information Security and providing strategic guidance and technical leadership for the university’s comprehensive information security and IT risk-management programs.

Kenny Weldon, MS, a civil engineer and retired Air Force colonel, has been named dean of Tarleton State University's new Leadership and Military College. The administrator will continue in his role as commandant of the Texan Corps of Cadets. Weldon retired from the Air Force in 2011 after 26 years as a military civil engineer officer, leading organizations at the installation, military department, and Secretary of Defense levels.

Mark S. Wrighton, PhD, chancellor emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis, has been

named the James and Mary Wertsch Distinguished University Professor. An installation ceremony will be held at a later date. Wrighton spent 24 years as the university’s chancellor before returning to teaching in the Department of Chemistry in May 2019. The professorship recognizes his accomplishments both as a university leader and as a scholar in his field.

Xinghui Zhao, PhD, has been named director of the School of Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University Vancouver. Zhao, an authority on energy-efficient computing, joined the university’s faculty in 2012 as an associate professor of computer science. Zhao succeeds Hakan Gurocak, PhD, a professor of mechanical engineering who will now serve as director of professional and corporate education in the Office of Academic Affairs. Last word

The mission for this op-ed is perfectly clear. I am to convince as many human beings as possible not to be afraid of me. Stephen Hawking has warned “ ‘ ’ that AI could spell the end of the human race. I am here to convince you not to worry. Artificial

intelligence will not destroy humans. Believe me.”

— GPT-3, OpenAI’s new language generator, in an essay written for, and published in, The Guardian — in response to the newspaper’s invitation/challenge to write an op-ed assuring readers that “robots come in peace”

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