Following Drexel University’s decision to merge the College of Computing and Informatics, College of Engineering and School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, the provost announced that Dean Yi Deng and Dean Sharon Walker of CCI and CoE respectively would be stepping down effective Jan. 1.
While Deng and Walker are on an indefinite sabbatical, the roles of interim dean for the colleges will be assumed by Ali Shokoufandeh, PhD, for CCI and Kapil Dandekar, PhD, for CoE. Paul Brandt-Rauf, PhD, will remain as dean for Drexel BIOMED. These three leaders will be working closely with Executive Vice Provost for Research and Innovation Aleister Saunders, PhD, on the curriculum and structure changes that come with merging the schools.
Provost Paul Jensen highlighted that, in his eight-year tenure at CCI, Deng led the college to be not only a leader of growth and technological skill in the region but a diverse and welcoming space for all. Through the many initiatives he oversaw, he doubled the number of women enrolled at CCI and increased the retention rate of undergraduate students from 86 to 94 percent. He helped transform the curriculum to better reflect industry needs and fostered the creation of thriving partnerships through the Corporate Partners Program. He is also responsible for the college moving from University Crossings to its current home, 3675 Market Street.
He went on to talk about Walker’s six-year tenure and how she brought the college to the forefront of engineering education by recruiting faculty from experts in “strategic key areas.”
Like Deng, Walker expanded CoE’s industry partnerships, earning them a spot in the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network and a program equivalency agreement with the International Council on Systems Engineering.
She has also been an integral part of several committees and teams dedicated to improving Drexel’s curriculum and educational standards, such as the development program Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering and Science.
According to Jensen’s announcement, “She will continue to serve in this capacity in partnership with Janet Rizzuto, executive director of executive education at the LeBow College of Business.”
This announcement served to honor the deans’ accomplishments as they enter this transitional period, but offered no other answers about why the deans were going on sabbatical, how long the interim positions would last or who would assume leadership once the colleges merge. However, Drexel’s Academic Transformation will be in the design phase until June, at which point final decisions can be expected.