College of Engineering dean search committee co-chairs, members named

University of Iowa faculty, staff, and students have been named to the search committee for a new dean of the College of Engineering.

Executive Vice President and Provost Kevin Kregel has named Sara Sanders, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Jun Wang, the James E. Ashton Professor of Engineering and interim department executive officer of the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, as co-chairs of the committee.

Sara Sanders

Sanders was named dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in March 2021. She joined Iowa in 2003 and is a professor in the School of Social Work. She was awarded the Distinguished Professor Award in the School of Social Work four times and received the President and Provost Award for Teaching Excellence in 2015. She was named a Dean’s Scholar in 2011.

Jun Wang

Wang joined the College of Engineering in 2016. He also serves as the assistant director of the Iowa Technology Institute and has secondary appointments in the departments of physics and astronomy, civil and environmental engineering, electrical and computer engineering, as well as the interdisciplinary graduate programs in informatics and applied math. He received the Faculty Excellence Award for Research in the College of Engineering in 2019.

Joining Sanders and Wang on the search committee will be:

• Donald Anderson, professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation, professor of industrial and systems engineering, and professor of biomedical engineering
• Ching-Long Lin, the Edward M. Mielnik and Samuel R. Harding Professor and department executive officer of the Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Timothy Mattes, professor of civil and environmental engineering and Faculty Council representative
• Daniel McGehee, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering and director of the National Advanced Driving Simulator
• Kate Metcalf, associate vice president, UI Center for Advancement
• Amanda Mikhail, chair of the College of Engineering External Advisory Board
• Brian Morelli, news and stakeholder engagement manager, College of Engineering and Staff Council representative
• Riley Post, graduate student, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate and Professional Student Government vice president
• M.L. Raghavan, professor of biomedical engineering
• April Tippett, chief financial officer and chief operating officer, College of Engineering

The search firm WittKieffer will partner with the committee on the search.

The new dean will succeed Harriet Nembhard, who in December was named president of Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. She will begin her new role on July 1.