Dean Williams reappointed for second term
Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Bruce A. McPheron recommended Williams for a second five-year term following an extensive review by a seven-member committee of college faculty and university leaders.
“The Ohio State College of Engineering is bigger and better than ever, thanks to collaboration among administrators, faculty, staff, students and alumni,” said Williams. “I am proud to continue to lead this amazing college over the next five years as we continue our work of producing the talent and technology required to solve the world’s greatest challenges.”
Having led the college since 2011, Williams is already the longest-serving engineering dean since Donald Glower, who assumed leadership 40 years ago.
Dean Williams has stewarded numerous college successes during his first five-year term, including increasing the number and quality of undergraduate engineering students to record levels of 8,200+ students, while broadening the diversity of the student body. More than 100 new professors have been hired, growing the tenured/tenure-track faculty to almost 300, the largest in the college's history. Research expenditures have also grown to more than $120 million, including participation in the largest award in the college's history, the $148 million American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing and Innovation Institute, in partnership with the University of Michigan and EWI.
The College of Engineering has invested in several new and renovated facilities, including the Center for Electron Microscopy and Analysis, the Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence, and the new Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry (CBEC) Building, which houses Koffolt Laboratories and the William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
Thanks to unprecedented engagement of alumni and friends, fundraising has increased each year Williams has been dean to a record $67 million raised in fiscal year 2015. Undergraduate and graduate scholarship awards are now at the highest levels as a result.
The five-year review of Dean Williams’ leadership included a study of the college’s strategic plan and the dean’s self-assessment; surveys of its faculty, staff and senior administrative leaders; responses from individuals at other institutions of higher learning and in the local community; and interviews with the dean and his leadership team.
Prior to becoming dean of the College of Engineering, Williams served as the fifth president of the University of Alabama in Huntsville from 2007 to 2011. Previously, he was the vice president for research at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA.
Dean Williams holds BA, MA, PhD, and ScD degrees from the University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of six national and international professional societies in the areas of materials and microscopy.
