Leadership Updates in CCI, CoE and BIOMED
This message was shared with all faculty and staff on December 17, 2024.
Dear Students and Colleagues,
We embarked on the beginning of this academic year charting Drexel’s path forward as a leading student-centered, experience-driven university. Much of the fall has been dedicated to gathering feedback and input from our University community on Drexel’s Academic Transformation. What we have heard has helped shape our design and implementation plans going forward and underscored the value of continuing to involve a variety of stakeholders and voices in defining Drexel’s bright future.
Today, I wanted to provide an update specific to three academic units: College of Computing & Informatics, College of Engineering and School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems.
Beginning in January, Dean Yi Deng of CCI and Dean Sharon Walker of CoE will go on sabbatical. During this time of transition, CoE and CCI will have interim leadership, effective January 1, 2025. Kapil Dandekar, PhD, E. Warren Colehower Chair Professor and associate dean for enrollment management and graduate education in CoE, will assume the role of interim dean of the College of Engineering. Ali Shokoufandeh, PhD, senior associate dean for academic affairs and operations of CCI, will serve as interim dean of the College of Computing & Informatics. I am grateful to Dr. Dandekar and Dr. Shokoufandeh for taking on these important interim leadership roles. Paul Brandt-Rauf, ScD, MD, DrPH, will continue as dean of the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems during this transition.
The leaders of these three academic units will work closely with Aleister Saunders, PhD, executive vice provost for research & innovation, on operations and strategic matters related to each college, as well as continuing to envision how these units might further come together in support of Academic Transformation.
Honoring the Contributions of Dean Deng
I want to thank Dean Deng for his stewardship of College of Computing & Informatics and acknowledge his numerous accomplishments as dean. Over his eight-year tenure, he led the bourgeoning College of Computing & Informatics with a sharp, strategic vision, transforming its program offerings into market-aligned, in-demand products. CCI has emerged as a significant growth engine for Drexel and one of the most important tech-talent providers in the region. Dean Deng secured CCI’s state-of-the-art teaching and learning home at 3675 Market St.
Under Dean Deng’s tenure, the College cultivated a culture of student success, increasing its undergraduate retention rate by eight points to 94%. It also instilled a commitment to diversity through large-scale investments in its Diversity in Tech, Women in Tech, and Broadening Participation in Computing programs, doubling the number of enrolled women. The College also pioneered thriving partnerships through the establishment of the Dean’s Executive Advisory Committee, Corporate Partners Program, bespoke corporate programs and an international education program.
Honoring the Contributions of Dean Walker
I also want to thank Dean Walker for her stewardship of the College of Engineering and acknowledge her numerous accomplishments as dean. Dean Walker’s six-year tenure in CoE has been marked by a commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and promoting a sense of belonging among students, faculty and staff. After leading the College through its 2020 Strategic Plan, Dean Walker supported a multi-year cluster hiring process to recruit faculty expertise in strategic thematic areas. The College received the American Society for Engineering Education’s Bronze Diversity Award and gained membership into the Kern Family Foundation’s Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network. Dean Walker oversaw the creation of the Dean’s Student Leadership Council and supported the establishment of the Drexel Staff Assembly-Engineering as a resource-sharing and advocacy group for an equitable and inclusive workplace. The College also expanded industry partnerships, including the launch of a new Power Systems Engineering Graduate Certificate program and expansion of its Academic Equivalency agreement with the International Council on Systems Engineering.
Dean Walker has been an engaged campus citizen as a member of the Drexel 2030 pre-Strategic Plan committee and CORE implementation team, as well as the University Advisory Committee on Academic Structure. In 2021, Dean Walker was appointed executive director of ELATES at Drexel, a national faculty leadership development program that received the 2023 ACE State Network Award from the American Council on Education. She will continue to serve in this capacity in partnership with Janet Rizzuto, executive director of executive education at the LeBow College of Business.
We wish Dean Deng and Dean Walker well on sabbatical.
As I engage with students, faculty and staff across the University, I am continually reminded of our community’s unwavering dedication to Drexel's mission and future. Looking ahead to next year, this partnership and dedication will be essential to our path forward.
Sincerely,
Paul E. Jensen, PhD
Executive Vice President
Nina Henderson Provost