I am pleased to announce that we have begun a national search for a new Dean of the College of Engineering, and I am seeking your help in identifying the very best candidates. While we have many exceptional faculty leaders within the College of Engineering, we will be conducting an external search so as to recruit the very best candidates to our University.

I have asked Dr. Duane Dimos, vice president for research, to lead the search, and a Search Advisory Committee has been formed consisting of faculty from the College of Engineering, a Dean from outside the College of Engineering, and three valued members of our community. Our community-based committee members are drawn from our alumni, the College of Engineering Board of Advisors, and the President’s Advisory Board. The search committee includes:

Duane Dimos, Vice President for Research, UTA

Anne Bavier, Dean, College of Nursing and Health Innovation, UTA

Seyedali Abolmaali, Chair, Department of Civil Engineering, UTA

Pranesh Aswath, Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Policy, UTA

Alan Bowling, Director, Robotics, Biomechanics and Dynamic Systems Laboratory, UTA

Victoria Chen, Director, Faculty and Student Research Development, UTA

Michael Cho, Chair, Department of Bioengineering, UTA

Jean Gao, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, UTA

Kenneth Reifsnider, Presidential Distinguished Professor and Director of the Institute for Predictive Performance Methodologies, UTA

David Wetz, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, UTA

James M. Crites, Executive Vice President Operations, D/FW Airport; Chair, College of Engineering Board of Advisors

Jim Greer '84, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Oncor Electric Delivery; Member of the President’s Advisory Board and the Engineering Board of Advisors

Raj Nooyi '78, Vice President and Global Head – Supply Chain CoE, Tata Consultancy Service; Director Emeritus, PwC; Member of the President’s Advisory Board

We will add two additional members representing the undergraduate and graduate students in the College of Engineering as the search progresses.

We have engaged Russell Reynolds Associates, a respected national executive search firm, to help manage the process.

A position description developed by the search committee and an ad developed in conjunction with our search consultant are linked to below for your perusal. This is a critical hire for the College and the University, and we will be searching for individuals with very special leadership characteristics. Candidates are expected to possess a demonstrated record of distinguished scholarship, research leadership, and a high level of continuous extramurally funded research, and also exceptional capacity in effective academic leadership, administration including of fiscal resources, and development.

More information about the search will be available on the University’s Senior Leadership Searches website as the search progresses. I encourage you to contact either Dr. Duane Dimos at ddimos@uta.edu or the search firm at UTAEngineering@Russellreynolds.com if you would like to nominate exceptional candidates for the position.

While the desire is to make this an expeditious search, our primary goal is to attract a strong slate of candidates for consideration—and ultimately select an outstanding leader in the field. UTA is known for its College of Engineering, and finding the right individual for this position will be crucial in our drive to become the Model 21st Century Urban Research University and set standards for others to follow.