Jeff Goldberg Retained as Permanent Dean of College of Engineering
Jeffrey Goldberg has been appointed dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Arizona. Goldberg had been interim dean of the college since November 2008.
During that period, Goldberg guided the college through a major reorganization that included creation of the new School for Sustainable Engineered Systems and the new Department of Biomedical Engineering.
Engineering's new freshman class also has grown by more than 10 percent and is more diverse than ever. Part of that success comes from an expanding outreach program, Engineering 101, an advanced placement class in six local high schools. Goldberg said the number of schools in the program will grow to 20 this fall.
Engineering Roots
The college, which spans the 125-year history of the University, is at the foundation of the UA's land grant mission. The National Science Foundation ranks UA Engineering at No. 21 in the nation. Its graduate programs in industrial, aerospace, civil and environmental engineering are also notably among the nation's best.
"We're going to continue to advance the land grant mission of the UA by working harder with local industry, high schools and the public to graduate more engineers and do the research needed for providing a better quality of life," Goldberg said.
"Good ideas drive the economy, and the fastest strategy for an economic rebound is having engineers that come up with and implement the kinds of innovative ideas that are critical for economic development in Arizona and the nation," he said.
Goldberg said the college already has revamped its industrial partner board and will begin a strategic planning exercise at end of March. The goal is to have a more team-based strategy for research projects.
"Jeff is a dynamic and effective leader who already has a distinguished record of achievement serving as interim dean," said UA Provost Meredith Hay. "He has my full confidence in his ability to lead the UA College of Engineering to a position as a national leader in teaching, research and public service."
Goldberg came to the UA in 1985 and is a member of the faculty of the Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering. Before being named interim dean, Goldberg was the associate dean in charge of recruiting and retention.
He graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees from Cornell University, and has a doctorate in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan. His research interests include facility layout and location, designing and operating emergency vehicle service systems, and using mathematical models to help solve decision problems.
Goldberg is a past recipient of the Shingo Prize for excellence in manufacturing and was a visiting professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He also worked at Vector Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., and at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey on a variety of research projects.
Highlights
This section contributed by Pete Brown
In a communique to College of Engineering staff, Goldberg thanked everybody for their "strong support and incredible hard work during the past 14 months" and listed some of the highlights of that period:
- We are up 50% in research this fiscal year over last year. Last year we were up 30%. These funds allow us to support the strong research programs that we want and need.
- We were up over 10% in our freshman class, diversity was increased, and SAT/GPA quality increased.
- We are up almost 100% in articles about the college (80 last year) and our Web site hits are nine times greater than last year.
- We have made two hires: one in ECE and one in CHEE; both are advanced tenured faculty.
- We have four hiring processes ongoing: two in MGE, one in AME, one in energy storage (department not specified). A fifth is likely in CEEM.
- We have converted four faculty members from 100% research funding to 50% research and 50% college (SIE, MSE, BME, CHEE). This helps us lock in strong faculty who have been good partners to the College.
- Two remodels of our lab space have been pledged by the VPR office.
- We started a biomedical engineering department and have received approval for an undergraduate degree program.
- SESS has been functioning and we have standing research teams with focus and direction. Our proposals are getting traction and we are interviewing a project development/manager person this week.
- We are strong campus players in the Institute for the Environment and the new initiative in translational medicine.
- We did well in the FY10 earmark process ($4M+) and we have three programs on the UA list for FY11, including a hypersonic wind tunnel project.
- We are working on a reorganization for EES to make us more effective in supporting complex proposals.
- We have started a faculty mentoring program; the kickoff was done by NSF in January.
- We have a development plan in place and are actively working towards increasing philanthropy.