Appointment of Dean of School of Engineering

April 30, 2009

Members of the Rutgers Community:

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Thomas Farris, head of the Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, has been appointed dean of the Rutgers School of Engineering. Dr. Farris will begin his tenure as dean on July 1, 2009.

Thomas Farris has impressive academic credentials as a scholar and teacher, and an excellent record of leadership and service at Purdue, where he has served on the faculty for 23 years. Since 1998, he has led Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Under his leadership, enrollment has more than doubled, and the school last year awarded more undergraduate degrees to women than any of its peer aerospace programs. Dr. Farris has also tripled the school’s annual fundraising and has increased the size, diversity, and academic strength of its faculty.

In his faculty work, Dr. Farris has conducted National Science Foundation-funded research on collaborative manufacturing and led a research team on an Air Force-sponsored metal fatigue project.

We have ambitious goals for the School of Engineering (SOE). Under Tom’s leadership, we expect SOE to grow in size and stature, with higher enrollments, increased research funding, stronger ties with industry, and greater contributions to the State of New Jersey.

The dean search committee, led by Vice President Michael Pazzani, has my thanks for a job well done in identifying and presenting strong candidates for the deanship. Tom Farris will be an outstanding dean. His expertise, enthusiasm, and energy make him the ideal person to move the Rutgers School of Engineering forward.

Please join me in welcoming Dean Farris to Rutgers. Let me also take this opportunity to express my thanks and admiration for the effective leadership that Professor Yogesh Jaluria has provided as interim dean.

For more information on Dean Farris’s appointment, see http://news.rutgers.edu/news-releases/2009/04/rutgers-names-thomas-20090430.

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey