Finalists Named in UI College of Engineering Dean Search
Monday, March 22 1999
March 22, 1999^^MEDIA CONTACT: Jeff Olson, University Communications and Marketing, (208) 885-8934 or e-mail to jolson@uidaho.edu. STORY CONTACT: Byron Dangerfield, College of Business and Economics dean, (208) 885-6478 or e-mail to bdanger@uidaho.edu.^^Four finalists have been named in the search for a new dean for the University of Idaho College of Engineering.^^The candidates are Lex Akers, director of the Division of Engineering, and Janey and Dolph Briscoe Distinguished Professor of Engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio; William Gregory, senior associate dean of the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at the University of West Virginia, and dean and professor in the College of Engineering at West Virginia University Institute of Technology; Steven Shelton, professor of civil engineering at the University of New Mexico; and David Thompson, professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of New Mexico.^^The finalists were selected by a search committee chaired by Byron Dangerfield, dean of the College of Business and Economics. There were 42 applicants for the position.^^The candidates will be interviewed in April on the Moscow campus and will meet with UI constituent groups around the state. Details of their visits are still being completed.^^The new College of Engineering dean will replace Richard Jacobsen who announced last October his intention to step down. Jacobsen remains at the UI as director of the Center for Applied Thermodynamic Studies (CATS). Professor David Woodall, associate dean of the College of Engineering has served as acting dean since January.^^Akers began his teaching career at the University of Nebraska in 1976. He joined the faculty at Arizona State University in 1980 as an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. He later became director of the school's Center for Solid State Electronics Research. Akers joined the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1997 as director of the Division of Engineering.^^Gregory has taught science, engineering and technology courses at Georgetown University, Clarkson University, Gannon University and West Virginia University during his career. He became dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Gannon University in Erie, Penn., in 1988. Gregory was named dean of the College of Engineering at the West Virginia University Institute of Technology. A merger with West Virginia University in 1998 led to the added responsibility of senior associate dean of the WVU College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.^^Shelton served as associate professor of civil engineering at the University of South Carolina before joining the University of New Mexico in 1985. At UNM, he was chair of the Department of Civil Engineering for a five-year term. He also served as interim director of the United States Army Environmental Policy Institute in 1993-94 and was the senior environmental policy advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Army from 1993-95.^^Thompson began his career in 1969 as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Louisiana State University, becoming a professor in 1977 and serving for a period as acting chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He joined the University of New Mexico in 1993 as professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. At both LSU and New Mexico, Thompson has held joint appointments with university medical schools in orthopedic surgery.^^-30-^^jo--3/22/99 ENG^
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