Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Vincent Poor GS ’77 will be stepping down at the end of this academic year, according to Poor.
Poor, who has been in his current position since 2006, was dean during the establishment of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, the Center for Information and Technology Policy and the renaming of the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education after a donation from Dennis Keller ’63 and his wife, Constance Templeton Keller.
The end of the 2015-16 academic year marks the end of his second five-year term as the dean of SEAS.
Poor explained that he has chosen this time to step down because the completion of projects such as the Andlinger Center and the implementation of the new strategic plan for the department indicates a logical junction for a change in leadership.
University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 appointed Pablo Debenedetti, former vice dean of SEAS, to chair the search committee to find Poor’s successor. Eisgruber said Debenedetti was chosen to chair the committee due to his familiarity with SEAS, his understanding of the University and its interests, as well as his sterling reputation as an engineer.
Applications for the position will be accepted until Nov. 13, and the search committee expects that a new dean will be in place by July 1, 2016, Debenedetti said.
Debenedetti explained that the committee, in looking for Poor’s successor, is searching for someone who both has an exceptional record in teaching, research and administration, and is also a visionary.
“We’re looking for someone who can articulate the compelling vision for the future of the school and inspire faculty, students and alumni in the realization of that vision,” Debenedetti said.
Eisgruber said that he hopes the new dean will have a good understanding of the values that matter to engineering at the University, which he said combines a great engineering school with a liberal arts context.
Poor said he plans to take a one-year sabbatical after stepping down before returning to teach in the electrical engineering department at the University. He added that he will spend the fall semester at the University of Cambridge working on the social analysis of networks, and that in the spring, he will return to the United States to work with colleagues on the West Coast to tackle problems of energy efficiency in the smart grid.
Poor said that he will miss working with the alumni and administration, as well as his highly dedicated and skillful staff in the dean’s office, to tackle the broad issues facing the University. He said that as dean, he is in a position to look at these issues, whereas as a faculty member he would be more concerned with his own research.
He added that he looks forward to getting back to teaching as well as being more involved in the day-to-day activities of his research.
“I’ll be happy also to be back in the electrical engineering department, which is my academic home here at Princeton,” he said.
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