Rensselaer Polytechnic's Suvranu De named dean of FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Suvranu De, a distinguished professor of engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been named dean of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, FAMU and FSU announced this week.
De will start on July 15. He is recognized as the J. Erik Jonsson ’22 Distinguished Professor of Engineering, one of the highest honors given to a Rensselaer faculty member. Located in Troy, New York, RPI is the country's oldest technological research university. De also serves as head of the institute's Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering Department and director of the Center for Modeling, Simulation and Imaging in Medicine.
“We welcome Suvranu De to the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, a unique partnership that is breaking new ground in scholarship, research and technology innovation while successfully recruiting and educating engineers from underrepresented groups,” FAMU President Larry Robinson said in a news release. “Dean De’s impressive background makes him well suited to lead the way forward as we enter a new era of success at the college.”
FSU President Richard McCullough also commented on De's appointment.
“We are incredibly excited to bring Dr. De to Tallahassee as the new dean of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering,” McCullough said in the same release. “Dr. De is an outstanding scholar, leader and innovator who will advance the college’s mission to educate the next generation of engineers and prepare them to compete in an ever-changing workforce.”
De holds three degrees in mechanical engineering — a bachelor's degree from Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India, a master's degree from the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, India and a doctoral degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Under the joint college’s operating agreement, the dean is a FAMU employee but reports to the provosts of both universities.
The previous dean of the college, J. Murray Gibson, served for five years and is taking a sabbatical before returning as a professor of mechanical engineering this fall. Farrukh Alvi, senior associate dean for Research and Graduate Studies and professor of mechanical engineering, has been filling the interim role since November 2021 while the universities searched for Gibson's successor.
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After choosing four finalists during a nationwide search, the presidents and provosts made the final selection of De for the position. The other three final candidates were James Klausner, dean of the College of Engineering at United Arab Emirates University, Pamela McCauley, associate dean for Academic Programs, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at North Carolina State University and Okenwa Okoli, professor and chair of the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at FAMU-FSU.
“I am deeply honored and humbled by this opportunity to serve as the dean of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering,” De said in a news release.
He added, “I have been thrilled by the warmth and hospitality I received on campus. My wife, Nilanjana, and I are looking forward to being part of the FAMU-FSU family.”
De’s new role includes serving as the college’s chief academic and administrative officer, where he will work with the deans, faculty and administrators of both FAMU and FSU while overseeing research and academic affairs.
"Enabling tighter integration and synergy within the college, supporting faculty and enhancing the recruitment, retention, on-time graduation and gainful employment of students will be my goals," De said.
A few of De’s achievements include being awarded the Edwin F. Church Medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers this year and the J. Tinsley Oden Medal of the U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics in 2019. He also received the Rensselaer School of Engineering Outstanding Research Team Award in 2012.
De is an elected member of several professional societies, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).
The joint college, which is the only shared school of engineering in the nation, has five departments and offers nine areas of study. De will lead over 300 faculty and staff, along with 2,800 graduate and undergraduate students.
"The college derives its excellence from the synergy between two world-class universities — a top public HBCU (historically Black college or university) and a top 20 public research university," De said. "We will work on this unique strength and make the college the envy of the country."
Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Rensselaer Polytechnic's Suvranu De named dean of FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
